Since space is such a premium here, I could always open the drawer a bit further, take out everything that is beyond 2 inches deep and throw it out. I obviously don't need any of it to survive day to day. If I did that to all the drawers in the chest (the same thing happens to a greater or lesser degree in each of the others), I could just then amalgamate everything into one drawer, and maybe, perhaps just put away some clutter, or better yet, enjoy the lightness of the drawers as I open them, their uncrammedness. Sigh. Unfortunately, it would only be a matter of time before they just filled up again.
I was never that good at clearing things out, being raised by a war-born hoarder, make-do-and-mender. This does present a dilemma for me. Whilst there is something I love about making do and mending, I am quickly overwhelmed by the creeping presence of clutter. In recent times, I have become better at throwing out, but now have even less time and space to to it because of the demands of the children and family life. So, every day is a dance of reordering, half-finished consolidating and picking it up and putting it down again after thinking the better (or worse) of it. Yes, I can use that cardboard fruit pastilles tube (for some unspecified children's craft project). No, I have looked at it 25 times lying there, nagging at me to be decisive about its fate.
[No photo this time - who wants to look at clutter?!]
My squirrel mother always said to me that as soon as you throw it out (even if you haven't worn/used it for 20 years) you'll think of a use for it the next day. Now, there are flaws to this kind of guilt-inducing reasoning. One is that of course you'll think of a use because you've just been reminded of its presence in the cupboard when, if you had just given permission to a trusted spouse/friend/etc to throw anything from said bag/container out without giving you so much as a chance at a glance, then you'd have, quite happily, remained none the wiser. The other flaw is that it possibly stifles creativity because, if said item is just so perfect for x/y/z, that doesn't allow you the freedom to consider what alternatives you do have that CAN be put to good use.
The squirrel oft chirrups "a place for everything and everything in its place". Sadly, the reality is more like "a thing for every other thing and everything squeezed in between 2 other things". When I do have the rare occasion to go through some bursting nook or cranny, I rediscover some previous efforts at consolidation lying therein and spend a moment marvelling at how times and needs change, and even values, and the sometimes mind-boggling processes I went through once upon a time deciding to stow away such paraphernalia.
My dear husband is a passive accumulator of things (by passive, I mean, just genuinely inattentive to disposal and order with the daily trappings of life), whereas I am cursed (genetically) to be the active one. This is very dangerous, since we took on our rented garage to give us more flexibility with the space constraints in the house. "But it's a wonderful restoration project", I squeal, when in fact, if I really look around, there is a wonderful restoration project around every corner and I could afford to let this one go. Maybe.
Freedom is that moment when I can simultaneously say "to hell with it" and throw it out and reconcile myself to being more creative with what's left over, turning that guilt into inner peace.
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NB The strong caveat throughout here is of minimal waste to landfill, "throwing out" being a general term for passing on, recycling, giving to charity, making a concerted effort to use up, or if all else fails, committing to waste. My newest challenge is how to maintain inner peace and household harmony and use the bin less. I am uncomfortable knowing that most of what we throw in the bin will long outlast us in landfill, in some cases, by hundreds of years. That is a sobering thought.
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