And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-Anais Nin
So the end of the semester and the year is upon me. I have renewed my effort to get things in order and I feel that I am well on my way. I have commited myself to documenting the various aspects of my journey...a way of keeping myself honest, I suppose. Now I know I said that I would start doing all of this homemade cleaning and beauty stuff, and I have actually done a few things. But I have not gone full force ahead, because of one simple thing. I live in a mess of an apartment, and I have lived in messy apartments most of my adult life. It pains me to say that, but it is true. They say admitting a problem is the first step. Well, for many years I would not admit that it was a problem...for many years I did not see it as a problem. I mean, didn't everyone tell their guests to just sit on the books covering the couch? Why wouldn't I have 10 sets of bedding for a household of two? 60 pairs of shoes for a woman who isn't even "into" shoes (I am, however, a bag lady); what is the problem with that?
I did not feel that the amount of stuff I have was too big of a problem, but now it has become stifling, stressful, overwhelming, and it impacts not just my life, but my son's life. Like most major changes I have made in my life, seeing how things impact Z. is what is pushing me into action. I want to live a simpler, more fufilling life, and that starts with letting go of the things that keep us down. Below are some "before" pics of various rooms in our apartment, and I will be adding pics as we work through our space....stay tuned! Oh, and please don't be shocked by what you see....it looks bad, like a before on Clean House, but some of this is after I started pulling things out of the closets for sorting.....for real though!!!
This is my living room area.
The "dining area" where noone but me sits and eats...while watching tv and surfing the Internet.
Another view of my living room area...has potential, right?