Too much stuff, too many boxes...

So much stuff. What a long-standing problem. Clinging to stuff.  What a suffocating habit. Living in the same huge house for forty years lulled me into complacency - even though the piles were depressing. I called them piles, but maybe they were towers, some of them leaning more dangerously than the famous one at Pisa.

Moving out of the big house was a huge step. Every pile had to be dealt with in some way. I was smart enough to pitch lots of stuff at that time, but not nearly enough. Instead, too many piles became boxfuls of this or that or some other nonsense.

I chose to call it progress because at least we succeeded in pulling up those deep roots and getting  more mobile. My stuff became portable - which was rather unbelievable really. But portable clutter is still clutter and tends to get inordinately heavy. We will not want to lug all of this stuff with us in the next move so I diligently continue to go through these boxes sorting and pitching. At least I hope that I am being diligent.  Or am I kidding myself? 

The experts say that the first step of organizing is to gather like things together. I am still in process on doing that. You see; as much as I hate to admit it, there were odds and ends all over the place in those millions of boxes that made the initial move. Why in the world did I end up with bits of this and that in this box and more bits of the same type of things in some other box on some other shelf? To give myself the benefit of the doubt, there are reasons for that. For example, the big house had four bathrooms - so there were bathroom cleaning supplies and towels and band-aids and whatever else ends up in a bathroom that got packed up in four different places and probably at four different times. We also had three office areas in the big house. No kidding. There were "his and hers" computer and study areas besides the office office - which housed everything needed to run a family and a business and a ministry. Make that several businesses and several ministries through the years. So yep, office supplies got loaded up from more than one place.  So yah, there are reasons, but they quickly become excuses - and those excuses need to be pitched with the rest of the junk.

At any rate, I continue to go through the boxes and really deal with the stuff this time.  I really wish my progress were faster, but I at least I haven't quit. Many boxes have been dealt with and are ready for the next move but there are still a few awaiting attention. This morning I pulled out one more of those and started into the "piles" that were chucked inside. It is my project for this week.   

Speaking of which, I need to get to work.  This box is staring me in the face, daring me to tear into it.

...

And you? What is awaiting your attention? 
Can you see any progress? What does progress look like?

By the way, we celebrate every empty box.  What do you celebrate?