Do you have a room that you DREAD purging? Maybe it is the garage or the kid’s toy closet. Maybe it is a second bedroom or an office. As we downsize, the hardest thing to purge is my office closet. I keep the office/guest room pretty clean for the most part, but the closet is a testimony to my Tetris/Jenga skills, as well as my ability to be in complete denial about things I have time to complete.

I wish I had taken a “before” photo. Here is a” during” photo to make you hyperventilate:

Please note: Except for the bed, chair, and desk, everything else was IN the closet, and it is not even a very big closet, thank goodness.

What is all this stuff? books, ten bins of fabric, drawers of pipe cleaners, wrapping paper and ribbon, beads, buttons, jars, old electronic cords and manuals, scrapbooking paper, batting, patterns, pictures and frames, yarn and knitting needles, files, fake flowers, and quilting magazines. UGH!

 The problem is these three words: “Well, I might…”

CURSE THE MIGHT!

I might collect enough two inch fabric squares to make a watercolor quilt out of 3,000 unique pieces.

I might learn to knit, and then I will need those fake flowers to hot glue onto that knitted bag I have a pattern for.

I might make the kids bathrobes for Christmas, despite the fact that I bought the pattern and the fabric five years ago.

I might need this acrylic paint for something. I might need this gold ribbon for something. I might need these 3,000 buttons for something. I might need this decorative paper for something.

I might need therapy. I have enough projects crammed in that closet to keep me busy until Memphis lands on the moon. Even more sickening is the thought that I BOUGHT most of this stuff. Some of it has been carried through three duty stations. A couple years ago, when we got serious about getting out of debt, I had to stop going to JoAnn’s/ Hobby Lobby/ and Michael’s for a time—even if I had a coupon! I quit buying projects and committed to finishing what I had. I did complete quite a few projects the past couple years, but there is still overflow. I cannot bear the thought of leaving it in storage when I don’t need it and someone else might be able to use it/ sell it/ share it.

I got brutally honest. I set up empty sorting boxes. I pulled every blessed thing out of that closet. Here was my dominating question: If I had the time TODAY, would I get excited about sitting down to finish this?

Suddenly, all the paper, fake flowers, yarn, buttons, felt, and candlemaking/ soap projects got sorted into the sell pile. Quite a few “I should really make this for…” projects got scrapped. I have to accept that I do not have the time or (if I am brutally honest) desire to take on everything I find on pinterest or other creative blogging sites.

As things made their way OUT of my office and into the hands of friends or thrift stores, I felt so much lighter! Suddenly, I felt renewed excitment about the few projects I decided to take with us to Japan.

Now, off to do round two in the garage before my enthusiasm wanes. Oops! Too late.