Decluttering

There's so much clutter everywhere.

At home, where we REALLY need to clean out the garage. (Imagine actually being able to park a car in there!) Some things are gone now--Little Man's baby bath and his Pack 'n Play; his high chair and his bouncy seat; emergency food from y2k that probably isn't in that great a shape any more. Some things stay--His water table for the backyard in the summers; our growing "Christmas stuff" collection (Why Dear Hubby insists on buying several new strands of outdoor lights each year when the size of our house has remained the same is a mystery); our wedding albums; Little Man's adoption files. And some things have been added: a tricycle, a child's helmet, a big preschool art easel/chalkboard that we REALLY need to drag inside more often for little man to play with.

At work, it's much the same. Old adaptive equipment catalogs and workshop notes hid volunteer hour time sheets that were lost in October and just found 2 weeks ago (a month after the final 2006 totals were due). Cardboard packaging for cassette machines seems to multiply on its own. There are the zip code directories from 1995, and a microfiche (yes MICROFICHE!) reader machine from who knows when. And there is more scratch paper on my 2 bottom shelves than I could ever use even if I didn't retire until age 70. Lots of that will go as we prepare for Extreme Makeover/TBL Edition.

Some things will stay: Our tape-playing teddy bear mascot; art from a reading disabled inmate patron advertising "NLS Books on TAP"; a handmade sculpture of a girl sitting and listening to a Talking Book record player; just one old flexible disc record that I HAVE to keep as a souvenir. Things that mean something to our library and remind us of what we do. And what will be added: new carpet; new paint; a new collection of descriptive videos; and the constant flow of more new books than we can ever hope to shelve.

Life is like that. You have to make the energy to move with the changes, to get rid of what's no longer needed, keep what is meaningful, and make room for what must be added. Sometimes it's easier just to keep the status quo rather than investing the time. But in the end, it is worth the effort.