Clutter

I'm trying to de-clutter. Every once in awhile, I start to get claustrophobic with all the clutter in my life. It's become an annual tradition to go through the toys just before Christmas and get rid of a bunch before bringing in any new ones. This year I've gone beyond toys. On Saturday, we dropped off 8 or 9 garbage bags full of stuff at the Thrift Shop. We already have another 3 bags packed and ready to go, and there's still lots more where that came from!

It's amazing how much stuff we collect. Bizarre, really. Why would we possibly need all that STUFF? It's making me feel a little trapped, somehow - like I am a prisoner to all this clutter. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam this weekend and didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. Here's hoping the energy shows up to keep pace with the ambition. A part of me wants to get alot more done before people start showing up at our house for Christmas. Another part of me REALLY wants to have less clutter in my life before going to Africa.

I think letting go of food is somehow linked to this desire to de-clutter. I want less weight too - it's holding me prisoner just like the clutter. I want to be free of the need to overeat and the need to hang onto junk. I'm sure some psychologist would have a heyday trying to figure out why I collect junk and pounds - what am I protecting myself against by surrounding myself with all this stuff? Oh well, I don't need to do any deep psychoanalysis. I just need to clean up!