Saturday, August 15, 2009

Clutter as Comfort and Entertainment

We inherited it and passed it on; at least I passed it on to Amy; I don't know how Sher's daughter Melanie does. Mama kept stuff. I have a lot of her stuff now, stored in plastic boxes stored in the Little House. My stuff is pretty evident all over the house because there is no more storage space and I like to see my stuff anyway. As well as other peoples' stuff I've acquired and collected. Sister Sher and I talked this evening and she sent me more pictures of her bedroom with her serendipitously found valances from Penney's. So her bedroom is coordinated and I wanted to see it through the french doors. Through the wonders of the iPhone and laptops, I could instantly see what she'd been up to today. It's lovely. It looks so cozy.
When we lived in the McAnally House, she had the back porch for a bedroom for a while, then the little bedroom across from the "natural wood" walled bathroom. Mama told her to do whatever she wanted to with it and she bought fabric at Holtsford's Fabrics and made curtains. She's always been making "home" wherever she is. And it was lovely. Over the years she and I both have collected so many things of importance to us and both of us rarely pack anything away or discard it. A silly pen with a feather on the end that someone gave me is something of value and will find a place on a bookshelf. Shells. Small jars of sand from different beaches. Whole bird eggs, drained, of course. Tiny books; a million pens and pencils. We have to build our nests around us. Maybe it all goes back to the Burnt House and having lost everything. All these little things are a source of comfort to us and welcome us home.

But I know from having this broken leg that there are things I should discard - old cards, old journals. But how can I? Some of these things I can't even get to any more - things stored in the top of a closet. A whole closet I call my "studio." Amy is as bad as I am and what could she possibly do with all this stuff as well as hers someday?

Sher and I talk about the "Homes and Gardens" photos of rooms where nothing is out of place and there may be three pictures and four books in the whole room and how clean and large the room looks. But what is there to do there? I suppose our stuff entertains as well as comforts us.

I have good intentions of decluttering and I know I should. I won't promise myself anything, but I may try. I may.

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