A Simpler Life, No Thanks

New year's resolutions are often about editing and de-cluttering our lives.  I've been considering this.  That's what moving helps accomplish.  You look at the three potato peelers in the kitchen drawer and realize probably only two work well and you really only need one--okay, maybe a second for Thanksgiving.  And then, how many single-use items do we really need--a knife could suffice.  A periodic cleaning out of closets and drawers lightens the load we carry through life and frees up space in our minds and spirits.

Most of us have specific areas of our lives that need deliberate, and often continual monitoring and editing.  It could be collecting every fill in the blank you come upon (I've always appreciated collecting things that were few and far between and even took some research and hunting to find.  Otherwise, the temptation is ever-present.)  Or it could be just general accumulation.  It can also be less tangible, like cramming too many activities into a week.

My area of excess is paper.  It accumulates.  I believe Post-its are the best invention of the 20th century.  They're also my nemesis.  I keep a pad by my bed, and at all times I have a stack of them--with a thought or two on each--on some corner of my desk.  These eventually get stuffed in files, or transcribed to lists.  I've never conquered the principle of handling each piece of paper only once.  

Magazines get me in trouble--specifically issues stacking up, unread.  I made a decision a few years ago not to order or renew any magazine subscriptions--even though subscription prices are at all-time lows.  And I no longer even glance at magazines that mysteriously appear in my mail--if I didn't purchase it--why would I waste time looking at it?!  So I have the subscription situation under control.  

But I still have boxes of old magazines I never got around to reading (and I'm ashamed to admit, they moved with me!).  Which brings me to another paper problem.  I continually tear out house and garden photos, recipes, travel articles, etc.  By tearing it out--as opposed to dog-earing--I can then throw away the magazine.  But then I have a stack of papers that need to be filed!  Even though I will never build another house, I still can't resist a beautiful landscape or interior.  I've been scouring home and garden magazines since I was a preteen.  

In a further extension of this, I convert some of my tear-outs and ideas to online list and tables and files.  I have plant list, restaurant lists, movie lists, recipes files, travel files, etc.  These virtual lists and files are much easier to sort and organize, and they eliminate a lot of paper.  But they also need periodic updating.  This is frustratingly evident when I go through a 'city' file before I travel, write down restaurants that sound good, then find on arrival that most of the restaurants closed a decade before!  

I was ahead of my time when Pinterest came about.  I've always had my own version in photo files on my computer.  I have them broken down into categories and sub-categories--just like Pinterest.  They were very useful during house planning.  I can usually put my finger on things and find resources through my lists and photos.  And there's tremendous satisfaction when my system works.  

With this stream of consciousness (rationalization), I've come full circle.  Maybe for now I won't agonize over simplifying this aspect of my life.  I guess until they develop the technology to capture an image or words with my eyes and transfer them telepathically to a list or file, I'll continue to shuffle paper.  Maybe next year.