Blog Dis
The disempowerment of clutter
2025-03-11
Certainly, there are aspects of living that we detest with the same intensity we would if forced to swallow a warm tablespoon of cod liver oil! One especially distasteful aspect of being human is having to clean the clutter which accumulates in our closets. Clutter is the junk food of living. Clutter clogs our living space and I'd even venture to state that clutter clogs our clear thinking.
Indeed, in the closets of most people there are scads of ever-growing dust bunnies, accumulating on the floors, and hiding behind the stacks of cardboard boxes, if you're like me who stores file boxes in your closets. These old cardboard file boxes, which are built to last, may be home to a variety of microscopic insects like silverfish, bed bugs and even termites. Doesn't this sound like a sumptuous banquet contained within, to complement the dust bunnies? It's hard to part with stuff, the accumulation of writing material, if you ply a second-hand trade as an Indie author like me, because you'll invariably end up accumulating file boxes, and these microscopic insects will happily hide in the crevices of these dusty boxes that hold tonnes of too much crap and papers and things, including clothes that no doubt are potentially rife with other insects, maybe even cloth-eating moths, if left unattended for too long.
It all accumulates, quietly, under our noses while we go about our lives sleeping in a room that is a thriving colony of dust, and dust mites, and microscopic insects. But let us not forget those hardy bed mites that are attracted to the warmth of hot sheets where humans sleep. The thought makes me shudder, all the dust building up. I haven't even brought up the subject of our pillows and bed linen and how each night we slough off some one million dead skin cells that bed mites go to town on, feasting while we sleep. I've said this before, that I wash my sheets once a week. To get an idea on the amount of dead skin cells you slough off each night, all you need do is use dark coloured sheets. When you pull them off, after being on your bed for one lousy week, at the end of the bed you'll see the remnants of dead skin. 🤢 I can't pull the dirty sheets off my bed fast enough, to wash them, and kill these mites using a super high heat in the dryer.
I pride myself on being organized but I must confess I allow clutter to go unchallenged for up to a year in some cases in my closets, until I feel compelled to tackle the problem. So come Spring or possibly over this next coming weekend, given that the clocks jumped ahead by one hour, I'll begin the task of cleaning out my bedroom closet, to include two more closets, one linen and the other a front hall closet. I do this regularly, every year. I know what to expect: boxes and boxes, skates and boots, shoes, sandals and more boots and more sandals, plus boxes of inventory of my first series of novels, softball equipment, boxes of magazines in which I was interviewed as an author, poetry books, and even stacks of magazines that I'll re-read, a collection of bras, the expensive kind in multiple colours (all secured in large Ziploc bags), and a variety of socks and silk stockings, and scarves, and travel gear, like tops and cargo pants, wool socks.
Good heavens! It's never-ending!
When I undertake this annual purge, I listen to music to help the time to pass, and to keep me focused, until I reach the stage of weeding out my clothes, filling up a plastic bag or two or three before heading over to the local church to donate my gently used clothing for the needy. It's a cathartic experience as much as it is a necessary one, so that by the time I've finished, my closets look like an army drill sergeant was invited over for tea and instead of sitting quietly in my living room, he went thru all my stuff and discarded as much as possible. I wouldn't mind, actually, if the drill sergeant wouldn't mind putting in the time.
The cleanliness of the state of your living quarters has the power to infuse you with more vitality when your stuff is kept in a state of order. At least, this is the effect it has on me. I'm an Air Force brat, after all, and each time my father was re-located to a new city, the whole family came along for the ride, but not all the clutter we had accumulated. Mom was famous for throwing out pretty much everything that wasn't nailed down. After I complete my purge, later the following weekend, or maybe even the very next day, I stand before my closets clutching a glass of red wine to admire my work, the neat and tidiness of it all, talking to myself, "Fine work! Outstanding work! Well done Patricia! That's one smart looking closet...". I feel smarter. I feel neat and tidy and organized and special. Before Spring is finally sprung, I know I need to push to the back of my closets my winter clothes, the dark colours, the heavier leggings, in favour of bringing up to the front for easy access my singlet tops, brightly coloured tops, capris pants and cycling shorts and flowing palazzo pants, all the clothing that embraces the emergence of summer, soon to come.
Until then, I will contend with a disorganized closet, though I will maintain the use of my Swiffer to collect the hair and dust that accumulates on my floors week in and week out, given that I'm all too familiar with dust, and its modus operandi - what we all know full-well and like to pretend that if we do nothing, there's nothing going on... except the reality that dust thrives like a colony of tumbleweed-mites.
Did you know that the major component of dust is dead skin cells, and dust mites? There are also traces of pollen, soil and pollution and if you have pets then add in the component of dander too... 🤢
It's a never-ending battle to stay organized!
Indeed, in the closets of most people there are scads of ever-growing dust bunnies, accumulating on the floors, and hiding behind the stacks of cardboard boxes, if you're like me who stores file boxes in your closets. These old cardboard file boxes, which are built to last, may be home to a variety of microscopic insects like silverfish, bed bugs and even termites. Doesn't this sound like a sumptuous banquet contained within, to complement the dust bunnies? It's hard to part with stuff, the accumulation of writing material, if you ply a second-hand trade as an Indie author like me, because you'll invariably end up accumulating file boxes, and these microscopic insects will happily hide in the crevices of these dusty boxes that hold tonnes of too much crap and papers and things, including clothes that no doubt are potentially rife with other insects, maybe even cloth-eating moths, if left unattended for too long.
It all accumulates, quietly, under our noses while we go about our lives sleeping in a room that is a thriving colony of dust, and dust mites, and microscopic insects. But let us not forget those hardy bed mites that are attracted to the warmth of hot sheets where humans sleep. The thought makes me shudder, all the dust building up. I haven't even brought up the subject of our pillows and bed linen and how each night we slough off some one million dead skin cells that bed mites go to town on, feasting while we sleep. I've said this before, that I wash my sheets once a week. To get an idea on the amount of dead skin cells you slough off each night, all you need do is use dark coloured sheets. When you pull them off, after being on your bed for one lousy week, at the end of the bed you'll see the remnants of dead skin. 🤢 I can't pull the dirty sheets off my bed fast enough, to wash them, and kill these mites using a super high heat in the dryer.
I pride myself on being organized but I must confess I allow clutter to go unchallenged for up to a year in some cases in my closets, until I feel compelled to tackle the problem. So come Spring or possibly over this next coming weekend, given that the clocks jumped ahead by one hour, I'll begin the task of cleaning out my bedroom closet, to include two more closets, one linen and the other a front hall closet. I do this regularly, every year. I know what to expect: boxes and boxes, skates and boots, shoes, sandals and more boots and more sandals, plus boxes of inventory of my first series of novels, softball equipment, boxes of magazines in which I was interviewed as an author, poetry books, and even stacks of magazines that I'll re-read, a collection of bras, the expensive kind in multiple colours (all secured in large Ziploc bags), and a variety of socks and silk stockings, and scarves, and travel gear, like tops and cargo pants, wool socks.
Good heavens! It's never-ending!
When I undertake this annual purge, I listen to music to help the time to pass, and to keep me focused, until I reach the stage of weeding out my clothes, filling up a plastic bag or two or three before heading over to the local church to donate my gently used clothing for the needy. It's a cathartic experience as much as it is a necessary one, so that by the time I've finished, my closets look like an army drill sergeant was invited over for tea and instead of sitting quietly in my living room, he went thru all my stuff and discarded as much as possible. I wouldn't mind, actually, if the drill sergeant wouldn't mind putting in the time.
The cleanliness of the state of your living quarters has the power to infuse you with more vitality when your stuff is kept in a state of order. At least, this is the effect it has on me. I'm an Air Force brat, after all, and each time my father was re-located to a new city, the whole family came along for the ride, but not all the clutter we had accumulated. Mom was famous for throwing out pretty much everything that wasn't nailed down. After I complete my purge, later the following weekend, or maybe even the very next day, I stand before my closets clutching a glass of red wine to admire my work, the neat and tidiness of it all, talking to myself, "Fine work! Outstanding work! Well done Patricia! That's one smart looking closet...". I feel smarter. I feel neat and tidy and organized and special. Before Spring is finally sprung, I know I need to push to the back of my closets my winter clothes, the dark colours, the heavier leggings, in favour of bringing up to the front for easy access my singlet tops, brightly coloured tops, capris pants and cycling shorts and flowing palazzo pants, all the clothing that embraces the emergence of summer, soon to come.
Until then, I will contend with a disorganized closet, though I will maintain the use of my Swiffer to collect the hair and dust that accumulates on my floors week in and week out, given that I'm all too familiar with dust, and its modus operandi - what we all know full-well and like to pretend that if we do nothing, there's nothing going on... except the reality that dust thrives like a colony of tumbleweed-mites.
Did you know that the major component of dust is dead skin cells, and dust mites? There are also traces of pollen, soil and pollution and if you have pets then add in the component of dander too... 🤢
It's a never-ending battle to stay organized!
