ORGANIZE AWAY

As the seasons change, so must our closets.  At least, that is my motto.  Today, I took my paid holiday (Thank you, Christopher Columbus, for sailing the ocean blue, in 1492), and used a few moments to clean out my room.  It felt great.  I went through my clothes and other random stuff and made a big bag of give-aways.  I decided what I really loved and wanted to keep, and forced myself to eliminate the items that I barely wear or rarely have an occasion to use.  It felt great (did I already say that?)  And, because I am OC (obsessive-compulsive) in this area, it only took an hour because I typically do this type of “cleaning” every three months or so.  So, it was definitely worth it.

As many of those close to me know, I am an organizing fanatic.  Anything and everything has a place, and I love making those exact locations look appealing to the eye.  If it LOOKS pretty, and IS properly stored, you will never mind looking for something.  In fact, you will end up spending LESS time looking for something, if you have LESS to dig through, and LESS to stay on top of.

My theory is this: Organizing is not an item to be checked off on a chore list (though, I do love those!)  Being organized is a lifestyle.  It is a conscious choice to believe that “you can’t take it with you.”  It is a decision to be made with oneself that you won’t worry about not having enough, or “missing” that one particular thing you haven’t worn in 6 months anyways!  For example, there is nothing like “closet cleansing.”  What is that exactly?  It’s really quite simple.  You purge.  You eliminate.  You re-fold.  You color coordinate.  You donate.  You simplify.  Really, you take on an Ecclesiastical approach to your possessions.  Sure, it’s hard to get rid of things that you don’t fit into anymore.  Or, things that have sentimental value to them.  But, like my sister says, who has time to wake up in the morning and decide between countless T-shirts and pants and shoes and purses and sweaters???  It’s so much easier, and more pleasurable to have a small collection of items that you love to wear more often.  Essentially, adapting to a principle of “quality over quantity” is the key.

I could go on and on.  Maybe I will write a book someday about this topic, because it is such a passion of mine, from a biblical perspective AND a societal one.  Possessions and eternity.  The psychological disequilibrium we all have about the things we has bought, in relation to the feeling of ownership and loyalty to those items.  No need to feel guilty if you are (gasp!) a pack-rat, though.  My sister will be the first one to announce that “Hoarding” is practically my middle name.  In other words, I like to “acquire” things that friends and family give me, or that we switch with each other.  But, I am a work-in-progress, just like we all are, right?! :)  My defense is that I am a penny-pincher.

When I worked for Organize4hire (www.organize4hire.com), a privately-owned small corporate organizing firm, I was doing some marketing/advertising for them, and received a small blurb spot on their Jan. 25, 2008 post.  This hopefully demonstrates the entreprenuerial spirit that is tied to organizing:

Sort through home and office clutter with “SOS” in mind–does it have the potential to hold Sentiment Or a Sale? If it is a keepsake, group similar items together in a storage bin to be put away for long-term storage. If the item has monetary value and is still in good condition, snap a photo of it and post it on web-pages such as Ebay, Half.com, Craig’s List, and Amazon.
-Emily Jansen of Organize4Hire, www.organize4hire.com

(http://thedishblog.com/2008/01/25/sort-through-clutter-with-sos-in-mind/)