It’s that time again. It happens once a year and it changes how I do things. Good old Christmas. I roll through the year, running between various projects and commitments, gathering paperwork and objects which find their place in my house and stuffing the excess, commonly referred to as clutter, out of sight once I have no more immediate space. I sometimes feel like my house must be the only one with that problem but it is interesting talking to others about their homes.
Clutter, for many comes in the form of a Room of Doom. A friend told me that visitors see her tidy, well kempt house but if they went down to the basement, they would understand that she also has clutter. We have a Room of Doom and, I’ll admit, it gets to breaking point. I am a shocker for not throwing or donating things because I get emotionally attached. The outcome is that the things actually need are hidden amongst the stuff that doesn’t need to be there.
There are plenty of solutions, such as not keeping things I don’t need in the first place, but for me the solution is Christmas. The upcoming festivities make me tidier. I want my house to be somewhere that people can knock unexpectedly and I greet them smiling and welcome them in, without feeling horror at the mess.
The benefits are fabulous. I feel happier, more sociable and, yippee, I find all of those art materials that I had stashed away and forgotten about in the mayhem.
As I write this, I am planning to paint because I re-found my favourite set of brushes and need to use them again.