The fact is that except for picking up the consignment clothes that didn’t sell I haven’t done much downsizing for well over a month. But because I am slow downsizing, I can’t really beat myself up about it. There are times that it just isn’t a high priority for me, and it’s important for me to acknowledge that fact.
Of course, slow but steady wins the race, and I haven’t even been out on the course much less in contention. I have noticed that when I get out of the habit of something—whether it’s exercising, writing this blog, or downsizing, it’s not always easy to get back in the game. Once I am on a roll with something, I am very enthusiastic, but when the mental muscles required to do something start to atrophy, it takes effort to begin again. I have to start with something easy or highly engaging. Sometimes, making a list will do the trick and give me a starting point.
I was hoping to be inspired by the books on decluttering and downsizing I did manage to read during this otherwise fallow period, but so far nothing anyone else has written has lit much of a spark. If anything, they left me feeling even more overwhelmed. The long, cold days of winter aren’t helping. You’d think they’d be the perfect time to sink my teeth into some sorting or documenting, but that’s not the case. The winter weather also is not conducive to ferrying unwanted items to new homes, such as Goodwill.
Lately, my Facebook posts from four years ago have been popping up into my feed for resharing. Many of them are photos of my earliest slow downsizing efforts, when I was uncovering treasures I had forgotten about. I’m past that stage. I know what’s there and have organized my documents and possessions to be accessible. Now, I have to make important decisions or take actions to reduce the load. Avoidance perhaps? I am weary just thinking about it.
And let’s be honest. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and other priorities dominate. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the urgent doesn’t always crowd out the important. (A good time management principle that I will cover in a future post.)
But it will happen. This past weekend, my husband was noting as he was looking for something how full of junk two kitchen drawers were. I imposed some order on one of them while he tackled the other. It was a small victory. But in the slow downsizing movement, the small victories can add up.