Monday 23 August 2010

Friday Five on Monday!




There is a wonderful website I follow, thanks to a group called RevGalPals.  Each Friday, there's a Friday Five of questions to answer...but I almost never get to the post on Friday!  Oops!  So here, a few days late, is my Friday Five Answers, on Monday!


1. What things do you like to hang on to?  Books, photos and things I plan to put in scrapbooks


2. What is hard to let go of?  Books


3. What is easy to give away?  Household things.  I have no attachment to appliances, dishes, printers, vacuums, etc.


4. Is there any kind of stumbling block connected with cleaning out?  I get distracted looking through things, and I tend to get too much out to sort at once so I get overwhelmed.


5. What do you like to collect, hoard, or admire?  Books, antique photos


Bonus: Tell us about recycling or whatever you can think of that goes along with this muttering about cluttering.

I used to be a clutter-a-holic, holding on to endless papers, memorabilia, things I was going to use/fix/give away/send to someone/use in an art project.  Then I found FlyLady, and learned to clear my clutter, part with my collections (including giving away or selling all but 3 of my 50+ teapots!  The more I got rid of, the more I wanted to get rid of!  Amazing!  I will NEVER go back to that! 

9 comments:

Sharon said...

Glad you played! I also have been nudged by FlyLady to let go of things, at least more than I ever could before. I particularly like the 21-fling boogie (I think it's called) to just go through and find 21 things to get rid of without thinking about it too much. I do tend to over think stuff like that!

Unknown said...

I love the boogie! My kids like playing too, and that is the best :-)

Unknown said...

I love the boogie! My kids like playing too, and that is the best :-)

PrJoolie said...

I bow before you. I like flylady in theory, but couldn't incorporate it long-term. You give me hope, however, that my collections will get cleared out.

Unknown said...

Joolie...the turning point for me was the day i realized how much easier it was to take care of my home with less stuff around. And that included collections. It freed up so much time for doing fun things, instead of moving, dusting, caring for collections. It's not easy at first, I know. But the results have kept me clutter and collection free for over 5 years now!

Unknown said...

Now a comment from a young at heart old lady, well only old on the outside, not in thoughts. I have a daughter in law who gets rid of stuff all the time and your idea works for her. Me, I really don't care if it is completely dust free and I enjoy what gives me pleasure, pass it on when some one shows an interest but since I love all things old with history I keep my stuff like that I would not part with any photos as they are moments in time to be remembered or enjoyed and are part of family history and passed on, if the next generation wants to dump it, I don't care as I won't be here anyway, it will be their choice. I don't have 50 teapots or cups for that matter but a few of this and that and items that have been passed to me from one generation to the next stay put. There are things I have parted when I was young and now I have 3 grandaughters it would be nice to still have had them but when you are young you don't think that far in advance. So be it, to each his own! XOXO

Unknown said...

You're right...it does depend on the person :-) For me, I can't even stand taking too much luggage on a trip, or having too heavy a purse to carry. I'm a travel-light kind of girl :-)

Unknown said...

I am terribly overwhelmed at the moment, trying desperately to start moving toward downsizing and simplifying my life. I have been planning to blog my journey to simplicity, but even the thought of writing about it seems to immobilize me. Going to check out flylady now. I am a new follower, love your blog and your writing style is inspiring to me.

Unknown said...

Rainbow Creek -- What I loved most about Flylady was 1) The knowledge that I was not the only one, and 2) the idea of Baby Steps -- I did not feel that I needed to fix the clutter overnight. The daily updates and directions, along with the 21 Fling Boogie made it so manageable, and yet it made a huge difference in my life.

Thanks for the kudos on my writing :-) Glad to have you on board!