De-Cluttering

It all started I-don't-know-when and I-don't-know-how. Maybe it was 'once upon a time'.

With the hectic work lifestyle, and the luxury of owner-residence - there was this lady who did just three things: 1) She bought things and kept things. 2) She bought things and kept things. You know what's the third.

The blessed day came when 1) She got a 1-yr scholarship to study in Europe. 2) She got 2 months off-work to prepare things. 3) She casually mentioned to good friend Carolina Chan about this bugger called 'The Clutter in The House'.

Trust the trusty good friend Carolina to do this: Thoughtfully, she shopped for and bought NY Times Bestseller "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh - and gave it to that lady, author not included. And trust the Grace of God - just one page - I repeat - just one page did it. To be exact - it was one paragragh. It hit the nail real neat. Right on cluttering due to "sentimental value".

"Do you hold on to stuff because "it reminds me of the past"? Do you worry that in letting go of an item you will have to let go of those memories? ... Are you afraid that if this ('precious' thing) is gone, you will lose that part of your past forever?"

This lady sat down and was amazed how clarifying those words were. And how absurd it was for the need to link beautiful memories to visible things. It can ... but it absolutely didn't need to.

From the photos above, you could see the evidence of God's grace in using situations, a good friend, and a good book - to teach me sensible things in which I had, over the years, lost some perspective of. The first photo shows the lot that a Thrift Shop will collect tomorrow. The second shows another lot to be collected by 800Super Waste Recycling. Thank God, thank Carolina, and thank Peter. Whew - the indescribable lightness of being de-cluttered. And baby, the good news is that there're more to go - hallelujah!

However, if I'm not careful - I might just give myself away one of these days!