Tiny Reminders

On decluttering

On Sunday I decided to tackle a task that has haunted me for over 2 years.

In late 2024, we rearranged our living room and traded out my large, bulky, and shockingly heavy buffet upon which the television sat, for something smaller, lighter, and that had no drawers.

Someone on Facebook marketplace was kind enough to see beauty in the old buffet I had haphazardly painted “tiffany blue” and affixed with obnoxious gold hardware. Everything that was formerly in that buffet went into the box our Christmas tree came in, and slid next to my desk in my home office.

And there that box sat - massive and inconvenient since then. I remembered there were treasures in there, but also a bunch of junk. And somehow the task of going through the box felt too big and too long. So I put it off over and over and over.

Until I could find the most inconvenient time to get a gust of motivation. Which landed on Sunday. I set my phone timer for exactly and hour, and decided I would do what I could in that time.

I used to time myself emptying the dishwasher too. One of my most hated chores. My fastest time to date is 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

I don’t know why I’d forgotten about this strategy of mine because it works so well for me. My alarm went off just as I stood up, having completed the project, with the box now full of donations, and all of the treasures having been rescued from neglect.

Michael was kind enough to stop the (actually relevant) work he was doing to prepare for family who will be in town this week long enough to accompany me to the donate. Gone. It’s gone now, that looming and cumbersome box.

I walked in and out of my home office several times the rest of the day, gleeful at my accomplishment. So damn satisfied with myself.

And what’s most special of all, is that I found my paper day planners dating back to 2011 - and flipping through them (I like to tuck little things in planners - like pictures, and leaves, and other important things) I found a poem I reference almost daily in my work as a grief counselor.

This poem, ripped straight from its book, Salt by Nayyirah Waheed, gifted to me by a client more than a decade ago.

I knew I had it somewhere - and now I have it where it belongs.

May you declutter all that disturbs you.

May you find within the disruption the treasures in the mess.

And may you know the peace of your own space.