We spent a chunk of our weekend clearing the clutter in our garage. The job isn’t complete, but two trips to Goodwill and two to the recycling center felt really good. We went through boxes of memories, thinned out two boxes of books (there’s only one box now), and generally just consolidated and cleaned up.
It’s funny how things accumulate, isn’t it? It’s not like we can point to a day (other than the day we moved in) and say, “That’s the moment when we filled the garage.”
Instead, the process of accumulation has been slow, almost imperceptible, but accelerated some by the pandemic. During the past 13 months or so, lots of what would have gone to Goodwill stayed in the garage.
Less is more
The feeling I got when I saw some of the reclaimed space in the garage, has me reflecting on other areas of my life where I’ve held on to too much. Like the clutter that slowly fills a garage, so too can life get cluttered.
Going through the boxes we asked ourselves: What is important? What can be tossed? What from the past do I need to hold onto? and What can I let go of?
This isn’t exactly a deep thought or metaphor, but rather a reminder that I am still ruminating upon on Monday morning.
I am aware of clutter in my life. There are things I’ve held onto that have slowly, almost imperceptibly built up in my life. Pretty soon, without even knowing it, the garage is full and I am not fully aware of everything I have stored away.
Maybe it’s time to refocus, to move forward, to grow by subtraction, to find joy by keeping the best stuff and getting rid of the rest. Maybe it’s time to clear the clutter.