I’ve just finished my mystical cleaning experiment. Among the treasures I found was a box of Tuna Helper with a 2009 expiration date. It’s a wonder it didn’t crawl away on its own!
The idea was to clear out 27 items a day for 9 days to open up opportunities/space for something awesome to happen. If you miss a day, then you have to start over. Today is day 9 and the experiment is over. Guess what I’ve realized so far:
- I have nothing left in my house. I’ve stripped away all the clutter and am now living a minimalist life with two outfits plus my laptop.
- Tossing 27 items a day barely makes a dent. Maybe if I did it every day for a year then I’d notice a change.
- I focused primarily on cleaning out my kids’ clutter and didn’t touch my own. Their rooms look amazing, plus it was easy since they don’t live here anymore. I got $77 out of their crayon coin bank.
- I did a little bit in almost every room in the house. Result: I feel a little better, but I really ought to do this for a lot longer than 9 days.
Answer: 4. There is so much clutter in my house that it was easy to find stuff everywhere to get rid of. I really felt like I did a lot of work, but it doesn’t look like it. There’s just so much stuff that I need to toss. My kids haven’t lived at home for years, so I’ve cleared up a lot of their stuff. I threw out food and make up that had expired, that took several days. And I tossed way more than 27 items each day. I did all those things so I could avoid facing the clutter in my office. Who knew I had so much stuff? Stuff that should have been tossed or given away years ago.
There were a few bittersweet moments. Guess which ones (and it can be more than one).
- I found a jade pendant that my mom bought for my daughter when I was pregnant. I was so touched by that memory that I started crying.
- The pile of dead electronics. Cords, clips, and corroded batteries the pile was stunning even as I waxed nostalgic over the cassette tape player.
- Photos. I now have three huge plastic bins of photographs that I’m not sure what to do with. Someday I may put them in an album, but maybe I should digitize them. Still was wonderful looking at those old pictures.
- The pile of old software. Remember Living Books? My kids loved them! I sang 40 dancing bananas all afternoon. [Here’s the wikilink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Books_series]
Answer: All of the above. Shocking huh? Imagine what I might find if I kept cleaning?