What November 6, 2016 will look like?

In the book, she talks about knowing why you are doing this is just as important as tidying.  She says to keep asking why, what I have heard as drilling down to the answer.  "I want it to be clean" is not sufficient.


So I asked myself and this is the image in my head what November 6th will look like.  Note: this is prior to the work blowup (which by the way is still underway but I still keep plugging along in tidying)


It is a Sunday.  I wake up, make my bed, and start my morning routine of brushing my hair, dressing, brushing my teeth and make up. I have my work outfit picked out on the valet in my closet and ready to go.  My jewelry is set and I have myself made up and ready for the day.  It is all easy because I can get to everything easily.  I get some reading done in the book I am reading before I go to get my daughter up.


My daughter is happy and we lay out clothes that fit her and get her dressed, brush her teeth and head downstairs for breakfast.  We make pancakes with daddy, laugh and giggle.  It is easy because we have everything on hand and ready to make pancakes.


I make the shopping list.  Sunday is always shopping day but I have a better idea of what we need. 


My daughter and my husband play for a bit.  The toys are put away so we take out one activity and work on it together.  Life is easier that way.


There is no mail piling over because it already dealt with.  There is no concern of missed bills because they are dealt with.  Paper is under control.


I grab my book, my lunch and shopping bags and kiss my loves goodbye.  I head to work. 


I get into a clean car where I know I can find things easily.  I get the shopping done and go to work.


I come home.  The house needs dishes done but everything else is in shape.  I quickly do the dinner dishes and unload the groceries with my husband. I get changed into my pj's which are still waiting for me on the valet.  I pick out an outfit for my day at the office.  I have workout wear laid out for Tuesday dance class and Thursday Yoga class (which I do not do but would like to do both).  My dirty clothes go into the laundry bag and stay in the closet.


I check on my girl who is asleep at this point.  I quickly send an email to friends asking them to dinner at our house later on this week. Then I get down to crafting whatever project I have decided on finishing (because I like to finish).  I work on it until I am tired.


When I go to bed, I have meditated and feel at peace.  Life is easier now that it was November 6, 2015.


I think this is doable.  I think I can discern that I want a simpler life overall but I want to do things with my life.

All I did was tell a little joke...

I had joked this past weekend as I started the process of going through my clothing that a whole bunch of space would be freed if I left the company I have worked for full-time.  See, I have been there 15 years and I have accumulated a few items of logoed swag over that time so if I left, I would not need to keep these things because they do not "spark joy" anymore. I do wear them now but really could then.  I had only joked about this...


A few days later, I go into work and they announce that they are suspending any new business and any current business will be handled to completion.  And this is it.


This means I will be out of work soon for the first time in 15 years!  YIKES!


But this also means, I can follow my passions.


So many emotions are flowing through me right now.  Change is a force that can take you places you have never imagined.


But with change, I have heard, you need some consistency. So I am keeping up my workout routine and I am keeping up with my work with tidying the house.  A tidy house will help me leap into this new life whatever it may be...


I am quoting Ferris Bueller because it feels so apprepo to this moment:


Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.




  Life is moving fast.  I don't want to miss it...

Why November 6th?

I know this is one year from the first blog post however, there is more to this.


It is the 10 year anniversary of the single best trip I ever took in my entire life. 


It was 2006, a year of great darkness.  This is the year that I was separated from my first husband.  However, it was also a year of great light, including this trip.


I started plotting shortly after he left me.  At first, I would save up and apply for my passport.  Then I saved up for the trip.  Then ordered the plane tickets and go.


These were the first steps to taking care of me. 


To honor the spirit of this trip, I picked the anniversary to complete this challenge.

What have I done?

This is what keeps running through my head.


What have I done?


I made a decision.  A decision that is very much like Julie in Julie and Julia.


I have decided to tidy my life by November 6, 2016.


Let my start with my past.  I was never the neatest of kids.  I am the oldest of two kids to parents who remain married to this day during the time of no-fault divorce.  I had a fairly good childhood.  There were bumps, yes, but nothing that could not be overcome with patience and persistence.  However...


I HELD ON TO EVERYTHING I COULD!


I still do.  I would spend Saturdays cleaning up and not getting anywhere.  I'd get distracted, put everything in a box to deal with it later, and go on with my life to no avail.


I grew up and went to college.  This, I remember, was my first true tidying session.  My then boyfriend went home mid-semester and I was left to complete the semester on my own with some contact with my classmates and friends but I felt lost.  So I started from top to bottom cleaning my stuff in my dorm room from top to bottom. And it looked great...for a month.  Then finals crept in and the decision to leave school loomed.  I felt lonely and missed my friends and boyfriend in the city while I sat in a small town isolated.  So things fell apart a bit and everything got moved home.


I eventually finished college in the city and got two jobs.  I still had no home of my own though and really did not deal with spending and hoarding habits, occasionally purging to suit others' needs.  I met my first husband ( well I actually knew him before) and we dated and spent my time split between his place and my parents.  We got engaged  and moved into a 800 square ft. apartment.  It was not glamorous but it was the start of home, a cluttered home.


It wasn't until we decided to move that I started cleaning and tidying.  I finally had the house fairly clean before the move but did not leave room to pack which was awful.  And the next place had less sq. footage. so something had to be done!  My friend suggested Flylady, an online support/ self help goddess that has a program to get your house in order. IT helped greatly especially for payroll SHEs for which I am in double. There will be a blog about her later.


Then I got divorced.  Everything scattered to the wind and back to my folks' place and all my goods stored or stuffed into one tiny room.


A DECADE LATER:


My life is different than it was ten years ago.  Some things are the same.  I work the same two places.  My parents still live in the same house which I visit frequently.  And I still have a untidy living area.


And something things are different:


I saved up and bought a 1900 sq. ft townhome to share with my brother, went back to school, met my second husband, finished school again, got a dog, joined a volunteer service organization and had a beautiful daughter who is now two.  I need a tidy life.


I heard about Marie Konodo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.  A friend loaned me her copy and after reading it, I decided to make this my challenge, to tidy my house!


So what have I done?


I think I have decided to change my life.