According to 2015 actuarial tables, I have about 27.6 years
left to finish cleaning my basement. You see, I have been talking about cleaning it for almost that long, so I’m justifiably
skeptical about the chances of success. In fact, I have several hundred saved emails
providing hard evidence that I have been complaining to anyone who will listen about
my messy house since 1994.
I find it exceedingly easy to put daunting projects on the
back burner in the day-to-day flurry of bill paying, laundry and Instagram posting.
And make no mistake, my basement is a project of monumental proportions.
All evidence to the contrary, I am completely obsessed with
organizing and purging the clutter that has taken over much of the square
footage in our home. When I think about the enormity of the job, I “google”
de-cluttering and for a brief moment, there is hope. But when I head downstairs
to confront the beast, I allow myself to get distracted by writing a blog post or folding
laundry or moving furniture around.
The amount of energy I expend stressing about clutter and dreaming about dumpsters is a testament to how
debilitating it can be. Of course life goes on in a messy house, but drowning
in clutter can turn into treading water through life and that’s why I’m going
to work on the basement as soon as I un-load the dishwasher!
