I like it when someone details an activitiy and simplifying definitely being an ativitiy, I decided to photograph a recent culling. The kitchen drawer.
First step: removing things that I knew would be kept.
(Interestingly enough – three of those did not get kept: getting rid of stuff can take on a liberating impetus.)
Same idea but now categories are being decided upon.
A welcome distraction – a necessary one – getting rid of stuff can be quite exhausting : it's a physical/emotional thing, even with a kitchen drawer.
Muffins just out of the oven.
Now everything is out of the drawer and that feels really good. I can 'see' all the stuff. I can give the drawer a good clean – and not because a move is imminent: that clean and neat drawer is going to be enjoyed by me. This is rather a huge gift to self.
Now I can see all the things I have chosen to keep. Stuff becomes things with selection and we don't usually want or need to get rid of things.
This is the fine-tuning stage: each item is considered: is it a thing or is it stuff. Do I know what it is? Have I used it in the past week? The past month? The past year? At this point it becomes much simpler. Glances into that lovely, neat, organized drawer help as well. Plus the knowledge that if I get rid of something and then realize I want it back, there are a lot of garage and church sales where I can find that item again; and searching for it will be fun; and it will have the charm of being different from the one given up.
The stuff. Most will be donated back to the thrift stores where acquired. Or put in the free box. The thought will occur (funny how this happens) that maybe so-and-so would like this or that. It is easier to get rid of things/stuff to people we know. But, from experience, that thought will be replaced by the knowledge that if so-and-so had asked for a particular piece – great – it would be offered. Otherwise – he or she likely doesn't want it.
The drawer is fuller but still 'viewable'.
The aforementioned muffin and a cup of tea.