There are times when I wake up in the ‘dead of night’ after having a nightmare. This a frequent occurrence nowadays and it always involves sorting through clutter. The most common theme is it eating me alive. Shiny, sharp, and slimy teeth working their way out from the most innocent looking piles of paper or fabric or – the worst – the spiral notebooks waiting to be written in. Still I forge ahead fifteen minutes at a time to try and combat the situation. My home is so not a candidate for that show, Hoarders: Buried Alive, but it has issues.
Issues that fifteen minutes does not seem to make much of a dent in which is why I am still writing about decluttering months after I started. Granted, there were times I slacked off in favor of other activities but I am determined to get real serious about getting it done. After so many months, there is a noticeable difference in my environment which leads to the determination. It is challenging to see the light at the end of the tunnel when everything is blocking the way but brick by brick, the light is starting to become brighter.
Yesterday’s “victim” on my war path was the most clutter prone counter in my kitchen. It is now spotless and reorganized along with the three upper cabinets. I even scrubbed the microwave, toaster oven, tiles, and cabinet doors just because they were there. It took around two hours in fifteen minute increments to complete but I am happy with the results.
Today features record-breaking heat and a swamp cooler that refuses to work so I have been hiding out on the cooler, darker half of the house and writing. I’ve written three poetry pieces and will soon work on editing projects until it is cool enough to venture to the kitchen. (Evil skylights!) If I can get to the kitchen tonight, I plan to sort through the pantry cabinets along with the refrigerator.
Wow, my life sounds so dull. A necessary evil on the way to a simpler and, hopefully, more creatively productive life.
On the side of other projects’ progress, I did get the Kindle versions of The Heart of Autumn and The Soul of Winter reformatted so they are readable once more. A Hundred Flames is closing in on completion. With my upcoming participation in June’s Camp NaNoWriMo, I hope to get A Hundred Flames and Smoke & Spirit done. I have ideas to write about for both so there is a very real possibility of it.
