From the depths of the Draft folder (26 February, 2010) — //OLD ENTRY FOLLOWS//
For close to six months, a curved backwall to a dresser has made my bedroom an unpleasant place to be in.
Leaning up against the wall, behind a very full dresser, there it’d be, that project I should have completed at the same time as when I build the dresser to begin with. Why didn’t I just hammer 24 nails into the back of the dresser? It was actually for reasons of consideration – I am extremely cautious about creating too much noise in my apartment, as a courtesy. I’ve lived under loud neighbors, and the “fine line” I promise myself they’re toeing ends up being an apartment-sized grey area named “that’s life, and they’re only walking.” The fact that I’d be hammering into a piece of wood ON a wood floor – well, that permeates a building!
On tuesday I’d had enough. Clothes and trinkets everywhere, I decided to get a headstart on spring cleaning. Fueled in part by discussions with Nies about “Lots of Material Possessions -> Magic -> Minimalism,” I realized that the only way to get there is with Elbow grease. I recruited Christina, with what I’d now consider to be “desperate enthusiasm”, got home from work, and got busy cleaning. Dresser drawers were pulled out, dumped on the bed, and placed in the living room. The top of the dresser was cleared. The space in front of the dresser was cleared. As Christina sorted clothes (categories being “Keep”, “Donate” and “Toss”), I finally attached the back of the dresser.
Something bothering me for so long is finally done and over with – but the thing is, I’ve gotten so used to being annoyed by its presence, its constant reminder that I left a job incomplete, that my mind STILL gravitates to that one thing, each time reminding myself that that slight issue/major nuisance is non-existent outside of my mind.
I asked Christina to really think about whether she “just wants it” or actually needs it, and she complied. When it came time for me to chuck or keep my 1980′s era Summer Battle Dress Uniform, she claimed it was emotional attachment before the hanger touched the rack. She doesn’t believe it’s of historical significance. Except for laundry (how? HOW!? can there be so much laundry to do!), and shelves now cluttered with small trinkets and whatnots, the bedroom is clear.
That first day made me (as I tend to) think of xkcd.com. Wanting something to be true doesn’t mean it is. Getting rid of things, truly scouring the place, putting “need” above “want”, is exhausting. On a semi-dramatic note, it gives me one more chance to look at every single item I possess, and seal its fate, one way or the other.
UPDATE – Today (3rd of May, 2010) – The bedroom is a mess again.
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