August Declutter Strategy, 2020

[Harriet]

There's a theory that if you name your challenges, you can defeat them. It comes from ancient wars before communication was very good, when you'd be fighting an invader without knowledge of what to call them. Are these guys "Huns"? Maybe they prefer "Barbarians"? Obviously, it's a lot harder to go onto the battlefield against the "Oncoming Hoards of Someplace" than it is after you happen to notice that one of them is that guy named Bob you met last year. You could call out, "Look, forthwith! It be Bob of Springfield!" And Bob would be sorta embarrassed that he hadn't introduced himself to everybody, and your whole team would feel a lot better.

Do you need to go around your home and NAME some spaces you need to address? Which spaces of clutter are you allowing because you've become so used to looking away and not addressing them? Consider naming it and claiming it, writing it down and actually getting to it.

If we write down our STRATEGY against

"storage box still on the couch",
"messy desk surface, layers one, two and three",
the "why am I saving the stuff in that bag, again?", or
"Stash and Dash I know is under the bed somewhere",
etc, etc,

then we've got the best chance of moving on to counting our blessings afterward instead. (not a bad tune to get stuck in our heads) And the blessings will be clear, calm areas that give us mental health and a smile.

[Nancy]

Decluttered a hose donated it down the street at the yard sale!
A friend stopped by for her book and som e others I put with it for her and 2 mini clip boards for notes,
And apples for their farm animals.
So happy for this progress.

[Nancy]

Another yard sale! Dgson just picked up donations for his fund raiser yard sale there was a pick up load of larger items! He had a buddy to help him load the bigger heavier bulkier items. I am delighted to have that stuff out of here now half od the carport is cleared out! WaHoo!!! They took the full sheet of used plywood might come in handy for putting stuff on, the closet door could be for putting stuff on as well. A set of french door that did not fit. A screen door as well. Maybe some one has a cabin that they can work for. Two small filing cabinets, books and cook books, popcorn bowl odds and ends of some misc. items in a bag and a few office type things. That is exciting to see this stuff roll on out of here!

[Harriet]

Declutter push here in dining area (so I'm running behind on my declutter/clean plan right now). I want to keep it up tomorrow.

No one in our circles are visiting each other except standing around outdoors to chat. So without any impetus of others seeing our hot-spot of the dining table, and a large increase in items that arrive via front door delivery but wait for virus reasons, the hot-spot just gets worse and worse. Other surfaces and spots around the front rooms get infected, too, so they need "good examples".

I do have problems with the arm. I tried to pick up and carry some recyclable cardboard from a delivery today and had trouble with the awkward bulk. Dd had to take over, so that was an eye-opener.

clutter has to be absent to continue with the Entry cleaning we're on this week, so I need to step up the game

Tomorrow I am naming

end table with magazines
grocery items waiting at door
hearth
area by the china cabinet
high-chair