february change: get organized!

From the beginning our intention has been to use this One Small Change exercise as a way to slowly reduce our waste until we are throwing away/recycling very little. We wanted to start with diapers and move on to other things like tp, baby wipes, paper towels, plastic produce and bulk food bags as well as other plastic packaging. Over this past month we have realized that if we are going to commit to lasting change we have to get more organized and clear out a whole lot of clutter. Our main living areas are basically clutter free, but we have various not so visible areas that are a disorganized mess. I don't know what we have or even why we have it. We've moved around a lot. In the eight years Joe and I have been together we have called two cities and nine places home. We are renting the house we are in now so there will be at least one more move in our future. Each time we relocate we move the same boxes of stuff that never seem to get unpacked. Each time we lament this but quickly shove the boxes with their mysterious content out of sight and don't think about it again until our next move. Or until I am trying to find something I think I remember having once and rifle through the boxes until I either find what I am looking for or give up. This results in the big jumble of stuff you see here:


So, our focus for February is to go through the detritus of eight years of almost constant motion and clear it all away. Anything we don't love or can't use will be yard saled or Craigslisted or given away. I feel like once all this stuff is out of our lives that we will have the space ~emotional, physical, spiritual space~ to move more fully into living the life we have imagined for ourselves.

I am interested to uncover what I have packed away and refused to face for so long. I expect to learn a bit about myself and to release some fears and old ways of living in the process. Here's to personal growth, huh?