Every year on Christmas Day I go for a hike. I pack provisions (mostly chocolate), a camera and my journal and I hike Maryland Heights. Except for the one year my mother came along, I’ve always hiked by myself. i like it that way. It’s when I conduct my end of year inventory- good, bad and ugly. When i get to the top of Maryland Heights, I get out my journal and review my entries from the past year. Inevitably, there are recurring themes which make me shake my head at my own inability to learn and move on.. There is also “the list”. It’s a list of goals i put down each Christmas Day, things I want to do/achieve/see etc. I thought I’d pull some of the words that come back EVERY year and see how I’m doing. First, ORGANIZATION. Otherwise known as “get organized”, “de-clutter”, “simplify”. I know how good I feel after spending some time organizing and cleaning– it’s just that I can’t get myself to consistently do it. Instead, I let a few months pass without paying attention only to return to a reality that includes piles of books, magazines, clothes that don’t fit, furniture and other junk that I just need to let go of. Whenever i do feel inspired to free myself of some stuff, I inevitably find myself looking at an item and recalling how much I paid for it. Which puts me in the conundrum of feeling guilty for “throwing out money”. Today’s mission is to spend 1 hour getting rid of stuff without analyzing and pricing everything I touch.. Wish me luck.
