"Problems arise when things accumulate." (Toinette Lippe)

 That quotation, "Problems arise when things accumulate", is from Toinette Lippe's book Nothing Left Over. It's about twenty years since I read it (and where did that time go?) and I'm going to look it out and read it again because it's an excellent book.

So, here on Kindred of the Quiet Way, Sarah and I have been talking about the curation of possessions and the ongoing struggle of managing a home inhabited by a family with all the usual possessions and treasures that go with living in a consumer society resourced by mass production.

This conversation sent my mind down the pathways of how I personally manage stuff, because I was advocating a practice of divesting oneself of belongings to reclaim space and peace and freedom — and I thought maybe I should take a look at my own stuff and see what needed sorting out. 

I wondered if you'd like to come with me on the journey and see where that took me today.

To have in the back of your mind is that in our church there's a young man who has become a friend. I've been worried about him because he's been homeless and sleeping on the street and hasn't had enough to eat. Then in the last week or two I heard that he'd been able to get an apartment so then I wondered if he has furniture and kitchen things.

Everything commenced right there.

In my room I have built-in wardrobes and shelves, but the moveable furniture is a bed, a chair, a normal-sized chest of drawers, and a narrow chest of drawers.

I don't need the chair —

 — Clarence (our cat) sleeps on it sometimes just for a change, but usually he sleeps on the bed. 

So we can offer the chair to our friend for his new apartment — and we also have a surplus one-person slow cooker, and a toaster; he can have those too if he'd like them.

But I think maybe he could do with a chest of drawers. Our car is too small for the big one, and it's too heavy for Tony and me to move now we're old and decrepit, but the narrow one is light, so he could have that. The only problem is it's full of stuff. And the bigger one also has stuff in it, though I did do a clothing cull the other day, so it's got a bit less stuff than before. But I still need to make space to put the stuff from the smaller one.

So look — this is how it went.

The top of my big chest of drawers was covered with things.

I asked myself, do I need all that stuff? Do I use all those things? And my first reaction was — absolutely; yes. Let me give you a closer look.

Here's what there is. My glass of water and my comb, the big glass I use for an earring stand, my water bottle, a badge, a notebook and pens, a CD someone kindly gave me (but I don't have a CD player so it's just sitting there because I can't listen to it), a letter from the Benedictines at Wass waiting for me to read it, some inspirational Thich Nhat Hanh calligraphy, my Kindle e-reader (never use it, doesn't keep its charge, I read e-books on my laptop), and the three TENS machines I use in sequence to alleviate my health condition, plus the attachment pads that go with the machines. I want those (TENS kit) available for immediate access because I use them every day and every night at the present time.

Above the chest of drawers there's this little shelf unit (Tony made it for me ❤️)

Looking at the shelf unit I saw that there are several lipsticks/blushsticks. We've lived in this house a year and I've only used one of them, and not very often. But in the past I've binned lipsticks and then wished I hadn't and bought new ones, so I think I'll quarantine the surplus ones rather than throw them out just yet. So I put them in this little bag, in the top drawer of my chest of drawers.

When I opened that drawer to find a space to put the lipsticks (the bag was already in that drawer), I realised I'd have to make a space, not find one.

So I looked to see what else I had in there. There was a fan in a case (bought several years ago, never used), some clips to turn coat hangers into skirt hangers — not very effective, but they'll work as laundry pegs and we're short of those, so I took them down to the kitchen to go with the laundry things. And there was another lip balm in a colour I don't like, so I binned it.

There was also a duster. I took it down and put it with the cleaning things in the kitchen.

I went through the drawers of the bigger c.o.d, to see what I could move on.

Three tops. I never wear them because they're fairly heavy-weight viscose and close fitting, neither of which I like. I put them out to the charity shop bag.

Several really good bras. I bought them in an attempt to improve my appearance but the problem with bras is that in order to achieve the required uplift they have to be slightly smaller than one's body. So, no. I am too old to be uncomfortable. They are nearly new, so I put them out in the charity bag — they don't normally take underwear these days, but I bet their staff go through stuff that comes in and might like them.

Okay, so that made some space. I looked in the small chest of drawers to see what needed accommodating. Top drawer.

Summer hats and cough sweets (I kept getting a tickle throat in the night). But those cough sweets are sugary, so I binned them because I don't want rotten teeth. And the next drawer down had winter hats and scarves and gloves. I put the summer hats in one of the IKEA boxes that subdivides the space in the big chest of drawers. To make room for the hats, I took out a clutch of winter tights — I don't wear tights any more, I wear socks and cropped PJ bottoms under a skirt in the winter. Tights to go, then.

There was one unworn pair for the charity shop, and well-worn ones for the bin. Good riddance!

There were also these two hats that I don't want to keep (went into charity bag) —

— and these gloves (into charity bag; I wear fingerless mittens that our Alice makes me) —

— and this scarf/shawl thing I crocheted in the winter (charity bag, might be useful for someone).

Top drawer (and the one below it) now emptied.

Next?

I looked at what else needed to go into the drawer of the big chest of drawers, rather than just sitting about on the surface.

I put the TENS gadgetry into the drawer. It's almost as easy as having it out on the top, all I have to do is open the drawer and it's right there.

I read and binned the letter (I've cleaned my address off the front for the pic) and took the CD downstairs to the bookshelf — it's of our family singing, so I want to keep it and figure out how to listen to it.

I realised there was room to put two scarves needing a home (from the now empty hat drawer) if I tucked them under one of the TENS machines.

In sorting out all this stuff I came upon the fixing tool, spare fixtures, and assembly instructions for the small chest of drawers, so I put them in the now empty top drawer.

The next drawer down of the small chest of drawers had socks, and there was room for those in the middle drawer of the big chest of drawers, which was already half-empty anyway. In that drawer I also put the winter hats in a packing cube I had.

The next drawer down in the small chest of drawers had the crocheted scarf and the gloves I mentioned above, plus the winter hats and a bum bag (US 'fanny pack') and a swimming costume that I never wear. I only ever swim in the sea and wear leggings and a t-shirt when I do.

There was also this 'useful' (ha ha — when? For what?) little bag I'd kept, so I put the gloves for the charity shop in that.

Now there was only the bottom drawer to go for the small c.o.d., and that had my hairdryer and a bag of other gadgets — electric razor etc.

There was room for those in the bottom drawer of the big c.o.d., because the other day I thinned out the clothing stored in there and put some ready for the charity shop.

I put the Kindle e-reader on charge, and Tony thinks someone in his French conversation group might like it.

I put the badge off the top of the big c.o.d. away in my jewellery box.

Now the small c.o.d. is empty and good to go and reunited with its assembly instructions and tools — 

And the top of the big c.o.d. is neat and tidy and (relatively) clear. Clear enough for me.

Ta da! (ignore the mug, that's temporary)

And all that took me only about half an hour, has freed up a chest of drawers for someone just coming out of homelessness, pruned out my accumulated clutter, and made my space more peaceful. Plus, once the chair and small c.o.d. have gone, my room will be more spacious and easier to keep clean. 

I'm well happy with that, and very grateful to Sarah for making me think about it.

There will be more things to go in due course, now I've set off along this (familiar) track, but that'll do for today.

*        *        *

And then I moved the furniture round a bit. Because that's how I celebrate space and simplicity.  

My room looks enormous now. "Deceptively spacious".

#should_have_been_an_estate_agent  😁

Resting now after all that busy work.  

Looking for something nice online.  San Haynes, Julie Balmer — it's time you wrote another blog post! You must have eaten that cake from the last one by now, San.