Laura Seabrook's Ramblings

Saturday I did a bit of Spring Cleaning / moving of furniture.

It was an odd day, in that Friday night I was just so tired I fell asleep by 9pm, but also woke at 3am. Couldn't get back to sleep and watched a bit of TV. There was an odd animated show on called Gary the Rat - odd little non-PC show. Still couldn't get back to sleep so I watched an episode of Buffy (in which the opening scene has everyone waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep).

Played with Pegasus after feeding the the cats and ducks (don't worry, he gets a bone in the morning) and was reading a new Australian magazine called The Well. There was an article in it called "Dejunk Your Life" by Maureen Rice. Its basic tenant is that too much clutter or junk around one's house has an overflow in one's life, leading to indecision and making it harder to get stuff done in general. It also had references to Lighten Up: free yourself from clutter and Simple Living. I also had a look at The Clutter Control Rules.

I tend to live in a cluttered way, both with stuff in my house, and stuff in my life. Clutter seems to be about not letting go, and not prioritising. After my personal reflection last week, I was ripe to make a few immediate changes, stuff that I could do in a day to reinforce some sort of commitment. Moving furniture about (and throwing crap away) seemed like a good bet. Also, since last Wednesday I'd decided that a) no more thoughts about sex with other folk until I'm happy having it with myself (more information than you want to know?); and b) I'll stop looking for a boarder until I'm a lot happier (and confident) in myself.

I'd been half-heartedly advertising for a boarder since early this year, including in Polare (where they screwed up by giving me the same contact number as someone else). No result, no return except strange e-mails and misdirected mail. And maybe it's just as well. I thought I'd be more stable with a boarder, with someone to bounce ideas off (and to look after the pets while I'm away anywhere), and a little extra income. But in truth I've more or less managed so far, so why can't I manage still?

That being the case, I no longer have to worry about preserving an empty fourth bedroom - I can commit it to being a "De-Junking/De-Clutter" room. Not a "Junk Room" which implies the stuff just sits there until I die or sell the house, but a place where I can put stuff to either sort, or throw out. Anyway, that being the case, it meant that I could move stuff from other rooms that I just wasn't using.

I have two convertible sofas that fold out into beds. Why do I need two (I inherited one from Steve, an ex-boarder of mine)? The smaller one was sometimes used by Pegasus but it was half broken. I moved this into the spare room, and move a cabinet of pet food into the laundry. Because of that, I was able to move my drawing table and another cabinet out of the lounge into the space where those had been. This means I have my drawing supplies next to my drawing table, which now faces out a window.

Because those two items were out of the lounge (each one had been in a corner) I could then re-arrange things more to my liking. Previously, I had a 5-piece lounge set in an "L" shape but whatever way I put it, the room was cut up and a lot of space lost. Now I could move the TV into one of the corners, and put the sofa set up against the wall, which in turn opened up the room and give lots of space in the middle. It feels a lot better.

I also went down to Glendale and bought a couple of DIY bookcases, which I could now put together using the space I'd opened up! On the Sunday I cleaned up what was on the dining table (mostly old mail and paid bills) and the various cork boards I have. Still a lot to do, but it feels good. I felt really good about the change. It's a small thing I know, but it just demonstrated to me how maybe a small change in attitude and a bit of commitment might make a big change in my life.

If I can do the same in other parts of my life, I'll be pleased indeed.