With O finally out of the house, ready to start his junior year of college, I’m officially back in my empty nest era. The first thing I’m going to do? Purge.
I am a self-proclaimed purger. I love to declutter and get rid of stuff. If it’s not useful to me, I’m tossing it.
Unfortunately, my family is the total opposite. They are hoarders—just like my parents.
From the useless store receipts and random ticket stubs to the faded, ripped t-shirts and too-small pants to the deflated basketballs and broken lacrosse sticks, the men in my house refuse to throw anything out.
And don’t get me started on the mounds of outdated electronics, abandoned cords, useless chargers, and old iPhone and MacBook boxes … I could open my own Apple store.
IMO, all those useless, broken, or outdated items are nothing more than clutter and mess. Clutter and mess create anxiety and overwhelm for me. They makes me feel out of control.
Purging is how I regain control. It’s how I reset and realign myself.
So now that everyone is out of the house again, it’s time for me to take back control. It’s time for my great fall clean out.
Nothing is safe! Old sports equipment, electronics, small appliances, clothes, shoes, magazines, manuals, knickknacks and tchotchkes, all those damn cords and chargers … Everything goes!
Well, everything except for a pile of empty boxes I keep in the basement. Those I do hoard … But that’s a blog for next week.
—LJDT
