Where can you reduce clutter in your life?

Bloganuary – Daily Prompt

The first step to answering the daily prompt was understanding the word. Sometimes I think I know a word but when I check on its meaning I learn a thing or two. From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary –

clutter (verb) – to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness; often used with up

clutter (noun) – (a): a crowded or confused mass or collection; (b): things that clutter a place

The second one has my name written all over it. I tend to create collections, good and bad, which grow before I realize I am out of space.

I know the prompt is “Where can you..” but I reduced a ton of clutter in 2019. I moved into an apartment in order to get the house ready to sell. I used that transition to reduce the clutter I created over my twenty-five years of living there. For the most part, it worked. I say that even though there are boxes of “stuff” tucked away in my closets.

So, on to today. I need to decide what I want to do with the boxes in the closet. It is a lot of Disney knick-knack. Jim Shore, Precious Moments and other figures picked up over the years. They were displayed in numerous shelving units in the old house but for the past five years have been mostly out of view and mind.

I recently did a good job with my camera stuff. I tend to hold on to old equipment even though I rarely pick it up or use it. I “proudly” display it on a shelf and all it really accomplishes is to gather dust. I sold almost all of it to fund the latest purchases. I haven’t missed it and now I don’t have to clean it.

I am a book hoarder by nature but I don’t see that ever changing. My shelves are packed full of books. To help with that bad habit, I have been getting books on my Kindle. Not my sci-fi books or those I get about photography and Disney, but the fiction, mystery, and thriller books I find myself enjoying lately. So, maybe that counts toward reducing clutter.

The definition for the verb clutter has me thinking, especially the “impede movement” portion. What is the clutter impeding my movement forward. I planned on being in this apartment until I sold the house. That happened in early 2020. I wanted to move out of NY, away from the cold and yet, here I am waiting for the snow storm to arrive today.

My mental clutter needs to be reduced as well. I don’t see myself as a deep thinker or one that does self-reflection. When I do jump in though, I can surprise myself. We’ll tug on that thread another time.

Time to get ready for work. Crap, what about the clutter there? Good grief….