De-Cluttering

Yup, you guessed it.  This is the time of year wherein many people make a New Year's resolution. Now, we all know there is nothing magical about making such a resolution. Many resolutions we make are utterly forgettable and within months...or weeks.. or even days, we have forgotten them.

The urge is very normal, and even commendable.  Most resolutions focus on some aspect of self-improvement.  We vow to do something to make ourselves better--lose weight, exercise more, have lunch with friends more frequently, write more, read more, etc.  The list goes on.  And all those goals we set are worthy.  

But we also know how easy it is to forget.  To say--well, just for today, I don't need to ____. (Fill in the blank.)  And, next thing you know, the resolution falls discarded by the wayside.  Give us eleven months and we will revisit the ritual.  Make resolution, implement resolution, forget resolution, regret resolution, revive resolution.  It takes about 12 months for this process to work out.

So, this year, I decided--only ONE resolution.  And the title gives it away:  de-clutter.  My solemn resolution is one drawer at a time, one closet, one corner, one room--one whatever.  Just to slowly and surely go through "things" and decide what can be given away (Freecycle), what can be donated (Goodwill or Salvation Army), what should be given to our children (heirlooms...), and what should be placed in the trash.

Considering the amount of stuff we have, this process SHOULD take me a year.  Oh, and for inspiration, I have already watched George Carlin's classic routine on STUFF.  He nails it--we get stuff, then we need a bigger place to store our stuff, then we need more stuff to fill the bigger space.  

This persistent drive toward acquisition is one of the themes I have returned to several times:  here, and here for example.  In the second link, I talk about giving items...OK, stuff...to Freecycle. At the time I wrote that (2008), I counted that we had given away 140 items.  The count today stands at over 300 items.

So, de-cluttering?  You bet.  Should take me all year. 

Resolved: that...

One of the activities in which I participated when I was a college student was collegiate debate. Our small college had a relatively decent debate team, and--unlike sports--we competed against far bigger colleges. We had lots of exposure to other campuses as well as we traveled for intercollegiate competition.

There was a movie a couple of years ago that did a fairly accurate job portraying collegiate debate: The Great Debaters. The movie had other points that it was making, and debating was only a vehicle for those themes. But, still, it helped show how debating can work.

Every year, all the colleges would focus on a single resolved. The first year I debated the resolved was:

RESOLVED: That the non-communist nations of the world should establish an economic community.

The next year it was:

RESOLVED: That the federal government should guarantee an opportunity for higher education to all qualified high school graduates.

It is interesting to me to note that, in part, the first topic has been realized with the European Union.

I debated on the affirmative side of the issue. That meant that I and my partner had to do the research to PROVE the resolution. The negative team also had to do research, but could also focus on pulling the affirmative team off topic. I don't think my partner and I won many debates, but the experience was memorable and enjoyable.

So, why this reverie on debating. Because the word RESOLVED leads me to think of resolutions. Resolutions are sort of personal RESOLVEDS that you take the affirmative on and try to prove.

Every year, many people engage in their own little debate--whether or not to make New Year's resolutions. I say--do it! RESOLVED: that making resolutions at New Year's is a good thing to do.

A quick word about resolveds. They should always be worded in the positive. So, you would not say RESOLVED: making resolutions at New Year's is not worthwhile.

But, I digress.

Here's why I like resolutions.

1. They give you a goal to focus on for the new year.
2. They help you affirm the possibility of possibilities.
3. They give you the opportunity to leave behind what was less than perfect in the year gone by.

I make modest resolutions.

I resolve to
--take part in a book club
--clean out my closets before they overflow
--have lunch with friends more frequently
--take longer walks.

I never make too many resolutions. Too hard to keep track of! And, one thing I never do. At the close of the year, I do not beat myself up for any resolutions unmet. I stay on the affirmative, and eliminate the negative.

So, are you on the affirmative on this question? Or the negative?

More or Less. . .

The house is quiet now--our adult children and their wonderful partners have returned to their homes. Our son and his wife were only here a couple of days--a sweet Christmas treat.

Our daughter and her fiance were here a bit longer--visiting two sets of parents, us in PA, and his in NJ. And also doing a bit of wedding planning. But they have their work to return to--so off they flew to London.

The house is undecorated, mostly--just a few more things to put away.

So, now what?

One more week before classes resume at my community college. Must. finish. my. syllabus. . .tomorrow.

What else?

Hmmm, tap, tap, tap finger against my lips? OH YES! Resolutions.

So, some years I make resolutions; some years, I resolve NOT to make resolutions. I have thought about the whole exercise of making resolutions--and have concluded they tend to boil down to MORE or LESS.

This year, I want to weigh LESS, and eat MORE health foods.

This year, I want to exercise MORE (see above related items).

This year, I want to waste LESS time, and read MORE.

This year, I want to cherish family MORE.

Will I keep my resolutions?

More or less!

No New Resolutions

With the arrival of 2007, I have been a tepid resolution maker. Occasionally in the past, I have made resolutions as the new year arrives. And, like everyone, I shed them almost as quickly. But this year, I made NO resolutions.

Oh, certainly, I should/ could lose a few pounds. And, yes, I should go to the gym more than the one or two days a week I go now. And, of course, the basement could be cleaned out (again). But none of these things seemed sufficient to motivate me to making the inevitable new year’s list.

What does this mean? There are several possible interpretations. New year’s resolutions are made to be broken, so why make them? Or current events are so whimsical as to negate the power of any given resolution to reshape one’s life? Or last year was so full of wondrous occurrences that the coming year can’t help but pale, so why resolve to do anything but go along for the ride? Or all of the above?

Understand, I don’t know what it means. I have made some very helpful resolutions in the past. One year, I resolved to put a quarter in a jar for every time I threw out some leftover food. My children know the concept of wasting food grates on me. I can’t stand the thought that, in this country, we are so spendthrift of resources that we can just throw away food. So, I was trying to re-educate myself by that resolution to be more mindful, more sparing and prepare only the amount of food that I thought we would consume at a meal. Now, I tend to eat the leftovers from a dinner as the next day’s lunch, so the quarter jar is gone. By the way, its destination that year I made the resolution was as a contribution to a local hunger relief program.

And, I have resolved countless years to lose weight. Lately, I have decided to just count myself as “big-boned” and forego trying to bring my weight down. I settle for maintaining a weight, and not gaining. That in itself is triumph enough.

As for the ubiquitous need to clean out all manner of places in the house, those needs went to the top of the list when I involuntarily retired. And I cleaned out drawers, closets, rooms, basement (singular—we only have one basement) and garage (same numerical limitation). So, putting the clean out items on a resolution list just doesn’t have the same punch it once had. Besides, currently the basement houses some furniture we are keeping for our daughter for the day she will not be residing in a smallish New York City (or London) apartment. So, cleaning out the basement presents more than the usual challenge.

So, no real resolutions this year. EXCEPT—oh, I just thought of something. Read more. I realized, the other day, that since I have retired, I am actually reading fewer books. At first, I puzzled over this, since I should theoretically have more time to read. I finally decided there are several explanations. First, I am teaching one or two courses a semester at a community college, so my reading time tends to go toward course preparation or paper grading. Second, we get the New York Times delivered daily, and I read a fair bit of that paper. Third, and perhaps most time-diverting, since I am home much of the time, I feel an obligation to do as much work around the house as I can. When I sit down to rest and read, I am almost immediately seized with guilt—shouldn’t I be “doing something”? (Oh, I am getting to be like my mother!) But, up I jump, and the reading moment has passed. Please don’t think I do not read books at all—I do. I just don’t read through as many as I thought I might. Perhaps that explains the ever heightening stacks of books next to my side of the bed!

So, no new resolutions—except, read more.