Clear the Clutter by Shanna Hatfield

   January.
   A new month. A new year. A new opportunity to start fresh with a clean slate.
   I like to use the dreary, cold days of this month to clear the clutter from my life and get organized for the coming year.
   Although I used to dread sorting through "stuff" and getting rid of things, I've found the more I got rid of unused, unnecessary items, the more room I have for the good things I really want. (This applies to both my home and the overflowing storage bins in my head.)
   A good rule to follow is that if a thing is not beautiful, does not bring you joy, or serve a purpose, get rid of it!
    How many of us have things cluttering up our homes and heads that don’t have a purpose, are no longer beautiful, or do not bring joy? I know I do!
   Do you have things that are broken and not repairable that you keep around? Do you have items that make you frown when you look at them? Things that have less-than-happy memories attached to them? Get rid of them!
   If you're one of those people who becomes easily overwhelmed by the enormity of a project like decluttering your entire life, start small.

   Open a junk drawer and start sorting. You know the one. Take everything out of it, toss what isn't necessary and organize the rest. I'm not saying you need to turn into a neat freak, but the minute (or five) you lose searching here and there through the clutter really adds up over the year. With the spare change you're likely to find as you clean, sort, and organize, you'll most likely find enough to give yourself a much-deserved treat like a trip to the spa (and you'll have time to enjoy it with all those minutes you'll save).

   After you whip that drawer into shape, keep going. Tackle a linen closet or a storage tub. Leave no nook or cranny untouched!

   When you clear out all that extra stuff, it’s like dumping a bunch of unwanted, unneeded baggage that has weighed you down.
    One of the hardest areas (for yours truly) is weeding (or is that wading) through my closet. What to toss? What to keep?

     Modern Eve offers this handy chart on wardrobe editing.
    Host a clothing swap with friends, take what you don't need to a consignment shop, or donate it to your favorite charitable organization.
  Once all that clutter is gone, take a deep breath and look around at all the room you have to welcome new things into your home and life that do bring you joy, have a purpose, or fill your world with beauty!
  You’ll also find without all the clutter, you’ll have more room for the most important things in your life: the relationships!
 

When I get serious about organizing and cleaning, I always think of the first character I created - Callan Matthews. She is the queen of organization (and I really wish I could be more like her when I grow up).
   You can read all about her organized house (although her life is a different matter) for free in Heart of Clay.

  Here's to a clutter-free (or at least reduced) year! (If you can't find me, I'm still working through my closet.)
  

~*~

   Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield is out to make it happen, one story at a time. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances combine humor and heart-pumping moments with characters that seem incredibly real.

    When she isn’t writing or indulging in chocolate (dark and decadent, please), Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

    This USA Today bestselling author is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, Romance Writers of America, Sweet Romance Reads, Sweet Americana Sweethearts, and Pioneer Hearts.

Find Shanna’s books at:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple

Shanna loves to hear from readers! Follow her online:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter | Newsletter

~*~

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Moving by Patricia Forsythe

We seem to have a theme going here.  Yesterday, Roxanne Rustand talked about cleaning closets and clearing space.  Last month on this blog, I talked about decluttering as I get ready to move and downsize.  Since that time, I have packed about forty boxes which are temporarily stored in a shed on my property, made numerous trips to Goodwill, called a charitable organization to haul away good, but not needed items, and a junk removal and recycling company to carry off, well, just plain junk.  And still, there’s more. 

Interestingly, I’ve discovered that the more I do this, the more ruthless I become.  I find that I’m ridding myself of things that once had sentimental value, but don’t mean as much now.  I even came across a box that I had long ago labeled ‘Things We’ll Never Use Again, But Can’t Bear To Part With’ which I vaguely recall packing about twenty-five years ago.  It contained some of my kids’ school papers from their elementary days, but also several things that I held up and asked, “Why the heck did I think I wanted to save that?”  Kept the school papers, tossed the mystery items.       

While I’ve been doing this, people have been fleeing war zones and unstable homelands, hoping for a better life in Europe.  They leave almost everything behind as they run toward safety.  This made me wonder what precious items I would take if I had to run for my life.  I’d probably grab only the most necessary items – practical shoes, not the adorable red sandals with flowers on the strap.  I would take serviceable clothes like jeans and t-shirts.  I might need a fleece jacket more than a silk sweater.  Definitely, I’d take my laptop so I could make notes, store memories, and write stories.  One thing I’ve noticed that the refugees take is each other.  They struggle to keep their families together, reminding me that it’s the people in our lives that matter, not the things.

How about you?  What would you take if you had to leave suddenly?

Patricia Forsythe is the author of many romances, both traditionally and electronically published.  Her most recent book was Her Lone Cowboy, a Harlequin Heartwarming novel available in June 2015.  Visit her at patriciaforsythebooks.com.   Her next book will be Lucky Break Christmas: Second Honeymoon in the Sweet Christmas Kisses 2  anthology.

 

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Downsizing and Decluttering by Patricia Forsythe

 

Inspired by fellow author Magdalena Scott and links she has provided on minimalist living, I decided to begin purging my closets, cabinets, and drawers of items I don’t use.  It’s time to see what I’m keeping because I just love it and what I’m keeping out of habit.  Habit is very strong and it’s hard to break.

Within a couple of hours, I had emptied almost one hundred hangers of no longer needed items.  Those got donated along with the hangers (so I won’t fill them up again).  I know I also need to sort through my shoes and get rid of some, but that may require oxygen and paramedics. 

My dresser drawers are something I can handle.  I have a dozen or more scarves of all types, neatly folded and ready for use – something that won’t happen because I rarely dress up anymore and, after all, I’ve only got one neck.

I’m sure there must be panty hose in the dresser.  What am I doing with those?  No one in their right mind wears panty hose in Arizona in the summer.  It’s too darned hot.  And knee high stockings?  I know I never bought as many as I seem to own.  Years ago, my sister expressed the opinion that they breed like rabbits inside closed dresser drawers.  I’m afraid to open the drawers for fear they’ll bounce out and create new colonies beneath the bed and behind the bookcase.  I must be brave though, and try to outsmart them.

Books need to go.  I’ve got many I’ll never part with, but also many I’ll never read – books of the ‘wall-banger’- type – ones that were so awful I bounced them off the wall and never finished them.  These can be recognized by the bent pages and, possibly, shoe prints on the cover.  I’m somewhat rabid about having my time and money wasted on a bad book.  I’ve discovered this is a drawback of having an e-reader.  Deleting a badly written book doesn’t have the same emotional satisfaction as throwing it against the wall. 

After all of this cleaning out, I felt strangely lighter, as if I’d shrugged a burden off my shoulders.  Next, I’m going to start on the kitchen.  It will be interesting to see how many cooking utensils I can get rid of, how many coffee mugs and glasses I can give away.  I remember an aunt of mine saying that when she moved from the house where she and my uncle had lived for forty years, she discovered they had nine wine sets – decanters and matching glasses.  She and my uncle never drank wine and she didn’t know where those sets came from.  Possibly, they were on the same uncontrolled breeding program as the knee high stockings.

Wish me luck!