Abstract

I woke up this morning thinking we should have an outing, but I became involved in clearing out bathroom cupboards in preparation for the coming facelift. Although only one cupboard is actually involved, it has a lot of stuff in it which needs to be reassigned to another space (which in turn must be cleared to make room) or thrown away. I was quite amazed by the size of the bag full of stuff that could only go in the garbage...hairspray, cold medicine and discontinued prescription medication, cleaning supplies, nail polish so old it wouldn't come out of the bottle, and not one, not two but three (3) hair dryers which I don't even use.  

What to do with twelve toothbrushes in the original packaging? The dentist gives us each a new one twice a year, but we use electric toothbrushes. I have already repurposed several of them for various fine tuned cleaning efforts...cleaning the grout in the shower tiles, for instance, and I put a few in the guest family in case an entire family comes to stay without remembering to bring toothbrushes, and a few more in our 'go bags' in case we are evacuated. The rest I will donate to one of the many organizations that gathers together essential toiletries for people who escaped fire with nothing but the clothes they stood up in. Maybe they would like the hair dryers too.

I have been living with the smug notion that we are still free of clutter since we did all this when we moved. The size of the garbage bag was a definite reminder that that happened almost nine years ago. Plenty of time to accumulate a lot more than just expired cough medicine. 

I see 'mission creep' happening in more places than just the bathroom cupboards just because the feeling of accomplishment is so satisfying. 

Why didn't I do any of this when we were in virtual lockdown for a year? If I could pinpoint what the spark is that finally motivates me to get started on projects like this and bottle it, I would be rich...like Marie Kondo who founded an empire based on tidying. I just read that she is starting a new television series based on tidying, not just one's clothes, but, one's emotions...along the lines of holding up an ancient t-shirt and asking oneself if it 'sparks joy'?  

On to the huge cupboard in the guest bathroom, which will be repurposed into a linen closet from a dumping ground for anything that didn't fit anyplace else.