Fuster-Clutter

I read this article about de-cluttering last week. Wouldn't you know it, I now can't find it, but it stuck with me  because it referenced a professional organizer who approaches her business as a form of therapy for people who can't get past all the stuff crammed into any crevice in their lives. Since a kid, I've always struggled with clutter because I either have artistic plans for something (I'm into recycled mixed-media art even though I often don't get around to actually making it), can't figure out how to perfectly organize it (semi-paralyzing perfectionism), or feel bound to keep it (but she gave it to me as a present!)

The past few years, an ongoing battle has raged in my house to rid myself of the excess, and now I'm at the point where I want to get more aggressive because I actually have a direction for what I want to do with the space. I've been bitten with the knitting bug REALLY hard and need more room for yarnstuffs. If I want to get an Etsy store going, I need room to keep the supplies and the finished goods, as well as to store other artsy things I'm working on (as knitting is only one facet of my obsession with all things colorful and full of string).

I also want to be able to breath peacefully in my bedroom and do some hardcore reading every now and again. For some reason, I find it difficult to read in other rooms in my house (probably because of the TVs/laptops/computers/refrigerators lurking around every corner with lotsa distracting fun), and except during those brief clutter lulls in my bedroom things get a little claustrophobic. This is one reason why I love to escape to coffee shops, but if I want to significantly increase the amount of time spent reading I will need to sometimes "make my own coffee shop," because $9 spent daily on a fancy drink and deliciously fatty pastries cannot be an everyday thing. (Okay, reminder to self: make some coffee shop playlists to really set the mood. One for that jazzy-Frasier-Starbucks feeling, and the other for that indie-guitar-soloist-hipster vibe. And if I want to get really crazy, one with World/bluegrass music for that NPR groove, like at the fantabulous St. Elmo's Coffee Pub that one time.)

So, back to cleaning. It is 12:40am on New Year's Eve Eve, and I am armed with hot chocolate (with a couple of chocolate orange slices thrown in), a song in my heart and a sparkle in my eye. Okay, minus the song. I'm in more of a Bob's Burgers mood right now.