There used to be a programme on tv called The Life Laundry where a quite irritating American lifestyle guru called Dawna Walter would enter somebody's house and force them to get rid of their beloved clutter. In the process there would inevitably be a few tears and tantrums, but ultimately it would be a hugely cathartic, healing experience. Or put simply, Dawna would transform a person's life by chucking out their stuff. Dawna has written a whole load of books on the subject though of course I wouldn't recommend buying any of them because they would only clutter up your bookshelves. Much better to borrow them from the library.
So, fed up with the amount of unnecessary crap in our house, I'm giving myself the Life Laudry experience. I'm being ruthless, just like Dawna, and only allowing myself to indulge in the tiniest amount of sentimentality over objects. I've kept my babies' first shoes and romper suits, but the rest goes. I've kept a folder full of Louis' paintings and drawings, but I'm not hanging on to the hundreds of random scribbles on bits of paper that might mean something or be in some way significant.
Now I am surrounded by piles. There's a Hospice Shop pile, a to-Ebay pile, a pile of junk that's not good enough for the charity shop (yes I've been watching Mary Portas,and I know that they don't want my greying nursing bras or Ed's ten year old comfy jogging bottoms) a pile of baby toys and clothes to give to friends. There's a whole mountain of cardboard in the garage that needs to be taken for recycling and then there are large, seemingly useless items such as a colossal exercise bike which needs to be offered on freecycle just in case somebody can make good use of it (not to mention save us the bother of attempting to fit it in our car to take to the tip.)
It feels good though. I wouldn't describe it as liberating, because we still have bookshelves and bookshelves of books and cds and vinyl that I don't suppose we'll ever bring ourselves to part with. But at least there's a bit more space in my wardrobe and maybe one day we'll be able to use our garage for the car, rather than as place to fly-tip our junk. Plus, best of all I'm making some money on Ebay (so I can buy more useless stuff!)
