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.