Friday morning at 9:45 a.m., this is what is sitting in the middle of my living room.

Yes, that would be my suitcase from my trip, which I returned from two full days ago (or almost).  On each side of my suit case are piles of dirty laundry.  I can't seem to get any one thing fully accomplished, and it is something I struggle with regularly.

While on vacation, I loved that there wasn't a "to do" list everyday.  I loved that I wasn't surrounded by clutter.  What I brought with me were things that meant something to me, I packed and re-packed, taking out a lot of "stuff" that I knew I wouldn't need or use.  I brought my laptop, my sketch book, a book on drawing and some markers and colored pencils (along with the clothes and other stuff like that).

Vacation isn't reality, and I know this.  What I do know is that I want to live more simply without all of the "stuff."  I have WAY too much of it.  I came home and immediately felt overwhelmed.  While the house was clean and everything was in its place, I still feel closed in.  Because there is TOO MUCH STUFF.  (I won't even talk about my craft room right now except to say it's a disaster and not a place I want to spend any time in, which is sad).

Now that I have been home for a couple of days, the piles of stuff that I need to deal with have re-surfaced on my desk and my "to do" list:

• Bills to be paid
• Checks need to be re-ordered
• I need to sign up for an online prescription account to get a 90 day supply of my allergy meds delivered directly to my door.  (The sign-up process is not as easy as I thought).  I didn't plan for this which complicates my life — not good.
• Mail that accumulated at the post office has to be sorted through and discarded, and shredded.
• The yard needs to be cleaned up from all of the branches that fell when the wind was howling.
• I need to learn Lightroom
• I need to transfer my photos to my 2 TB external hard drive.
• I need to get more photos ready for the next art show.

I really feel that the "stuff" in my life is hampering my creativity and my life on so many levels.  

I feel overwhelmed.

I know it's going to be a long journey to get where I feel peaceful in my surroundings.

Each journey begins with one single step.

I am ready to take that step.

Stay tuned.