Decluttering, again.

Clutter-free. Love.

I've talked about decluttering a bit on this blog, and gone so far as to declare this to be the year of decluttering. Lately I've had a massive shift in my ability to let go of 'stuff' that I've been carrying around with me for so, so long. Like, 10 years, 20 years… you get the idea. My husband blames it on clove oil. He added some clove oil to our homemade vinegar-citrus cleaner, so I've been unwittingly smelling it for days, and then he found a book that suggested clove oil be used to help one declutter their life. Whatever it is, it's working, as I finally let go of my books. More than half of my book collection is now gone!

I've written before about the trouble I have with letting go of books, in particular old text books from uni days long gone, and not so long gone. Something about having the text books stashed on the shelf, to remind me of my 'achievement' in conquering this particular subject or that. Or to serve as a reminder of 'who I am', because of what I have done. Something like that. A couple of months ago I had one of those 'ah ha!' moments where I realised that I could, if I wanted to, part with most of my books. If I wanted to. But since we live in a house with lots of built in bookshelf space, there was no need to at all.

And then all of a sudden, it happened, and I went on a whirlwind of packing up books into boxes. So many books! Big, heavy, burdensome books. And smaller, tucked away, unnecessary books. From my economics degree, just three small books remain, and to see just those three books on the shelf together, actually looks and feels wonderful. It's like I'm keeping only the ones I truly want, and now they can really shine and stand out and I appreciate them so much more. From the commerce side of my studies, nothing remains.  And the science too, for that matter. I've packed up 10 boxes so far, and I'm still going. It is quite the purge happening.

So we've been going for a walk every day to the local op shop, with the pram, my little one and two little dogs, and off go the books. I can stash two boxes of books in the bottom of the pram perfectly, and they stay put despite their hefty weight. I figure the exercise of pushing a really heavy pram is good for me, and I get the full experience of being lighter without the books, when I walk home with a significantly lighter pram. So bit by bit, a day at a time, the books are going and the shelf is starting to show a lot more white space. I never realised how nice white space really is. Looking back at how many books were there, feels so stuffy in comparison.

And in stuff that isn't books - I have managed to get rid of my entire life's history of tax returns. I didn't even write down the details of every year first, like I was going to. And the flippers I've had for 10 years and have used about three times, ten years ago - gone. The ribbons from childhood gymkhanas - gone. Other 'stuff' from mountain bike events - gone. It starts to look like I'm some kind of crazy hoarder. Maybe I was, but now my load is lighter, I have less stuff and I feel so light within myself as a result. I've also been reading a bunch of good articles that have helped me in my thoughts around decluttering, and how much 'stuff' I really need to own. Take a look if you're interested.

From Becoming Minimalist:

Choosing Freedom

16 Things Your Kitchen Can Do Without (the +1 at the bottom stands out for me)

And from Zen Habits:

Letting Go of Possessions

Of course there is always more do to. Baby clothes spring to mind… Have you ever had a breakthrough moment with stuff you've been hanging onto for years and years?