Clutter funk

I grew up in a family that had a someday mentality. Everything was saved for that mysterious, in the future someday. Despite having beautiful things, it was like living in a museum. One of the things I promised myself growing up was that I would NOT live like that. 

Until I had my own home, and I began to fall into familiar Hoarding patterns.

While I've never been a full fledged hoarder, I can recognize some of the behavior patterns in myself. 

From the International OCD Foundation:

• Difficulty getting rid of items

• A large amount of clutter in the office, at home, in the car, or in other spaces (i.e. storage units) that makes it difficult to

  use furniture or appliances or move around easily

• Losing important items like money or bills in the clutter

• Feeling overwhelmed by the volume of possessions that have ‘taken over’ the house or workspace

• Being unable to stop taking free items, such as advertising flyers or sugar packets from restaurants

• Buying things because they are a “bargain” or to “stock up”

• Not inviting family or friends into the home due to shame or embarrassment

• Refusing to let people into the home to make repairs

  What makes getting rid of clutter difficult for hoarders?

• Difficulty organizing possessions

• Unusually strong positive feelings (joy, delight) when getting new items

• Strong negative feelings (guilt, fear, anger) when considering getting rid of items

• Strong beliefs that items are “valuable” or “useful”, even when other people do not want them

• Feeling responsible for objects and sometimes thinking of inanimate objects as having feelings

• Denial of a problem even when the clutter or acquiring clearly interferes with a person’s life

  
  

As I go down the path to a more simple life, I have begun to let go of things that stopped serving me. 

One of my biggest issues is with my craft supplies. I'm an avid crafter, and that means lots and lots in my stash. 

Did I mention that I had a huge stash?

I have enough craft supplies to open my own store it seems. 

For 2015, I am challenging myself to not buy more stuff. I don't have the space. I don't spend as much time crafting as I would like, mainly because I spending time tending to other stuff. So, instead I'm putting on the brakes and slowing down. This is the year I trim the stash. 

This is also the year I conquer the craft room clutter. I have Martha Stewart-esque design dreams dancing in my head. It's the execution that I struggle with. Currently, I have things divided up by craft & by holiday. When my son was younger, we did a lot of crafting together. I still have a lot of remnants, even though he's outgrown much of it. (He is in middle school now, and too cool for it-or so he says)

I have lots of odds and ends. I'm excited to see what kind of inspiration hits me! 

It is going to be a work in progress, much like me! In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he wrote

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.