Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

I’ve been thinking about this lately, especially the part about accepting things I can’t change.  The pressure to clear my friend’s boxes out of the storage unit is self-imposed. Nobody is forcing me to worry about it.  The stress caused by this pressure isn’t healthy, and maybe I should let it go.  Just accept that right now I can’t deal with all the things stored for other people.

I have eight boxes in my bedroom that I intend to work on sorting through, but can’t get started on them.  Let go of the need to solve this problem, and move the boxes back into storage.  Accept that I’ll be renting that storage space long term.  Once those boxes are out of sight I can refocus on my own things here at the house.

key principle of clutter creation

A key principle of clutter creation is saving things for later.  Examples:

• Getting mail, looking at it once, then putting it on a pile of papers to deal with later.
• Buying a book that looks interesting, even though you have no time to read it, figure you’ll read it someday soon.
• Recording a TV show that you can’t watch right away, putting the tape with your library of things to watch later.
• Skimming through email subjects, intending to devote time to reading them all later.  Hundreds of unread emails building up.
• Buying a set of pots and pans for the new larger kitchen that you hope to have someday.
• Getting new clothes that don’t fit, so you’ll have something to wear when you lose weight.

It’s good to plan for your future, but … come on!

The mail could in theory be handled right when it comes in.  Open it, pay bills, file paperwork.  But that requires the energy and mental focus to deal with it at any time, which for me is rare.  I get mail after work, burned out from the day’s effort and only have energy to look at the envelopes.  If the energy is there, the focus may not be – because of the distraction of the mess and piles of things I’m responsible for doing.

another month

Just wrote my check to pay for renting the storage unit for May.

Somebody shoot me.

Holding on

I read an ebook today that has a great quote in it.  The author wrote that someone once said to him, “Letting go is really hard, but not as hard as holding on.  You let go once.  You have to hold on all day every day.”

Bicycles

I have two bicycles stored outside in a shed.  Sometimes I think about selling one or both of them.

The 10-Speed.
Not used in a really long time, more than 20 years.
Would need many new parts: tires, chain, brakes, cables, handlebar tape.
Sturdy high quality design – was solid last time I used it.
My first adult bike!

The Mountain Bike.
More comfortable ride.
Nice features like: index shifting, oval gear ring, removable wheels.
Light weight, wide tires.
Bought it in the late 80’s, so this is my “new” bike.

Haven’t been out bike riding in a few years. If I get back into it, I’d have one of these two older bikes rebuilt instead of getting a new one. You know, I had not realized how long it’s been since I was bike riding. I used to do it at least a couple times a month during the summer. I stopped about two years before I started my weight loss so that means it’s been six years since I used them!

Three options:

1. Face the fact that I’m not interested in bike riding anymore and get rid of both bikes. If I decide to get back into it someday in the future, get another bike at that time.

2. Sell the mountain bike and fix up the ten speed.  The mountain bike was worth over $500 when I got it, so it should still have some value.  I’d like to ride the ten speed again, and have been thinking about fixing it for a really long time.  Is this just nostalgia?  Unsure if it would still be a solid ride after all this time, even with new parts.

3. Give away the ten speed (not worth selling in present condition) and fix up the mountain bike.

Timeline for 2009

Here is my proposed schedule for The Project this year:

1. Before Memorial Day (May 25), complete last year’s goal of reducing stuff in the bedroom to that which fits:
   1. In or on my desk
   2. In five boxes; for Books, Tools, Papers, Media, Random
   3. Clothing in one dresser and on closet hangers.
2. Reduce Storage Unit contents to two categories:
   1. My furniture.  Keep only what is “priceless” and has sincere sentimental value.
   2. A representative sample of my friend’s things.  Approximate volume one carload or less.
3. Transfer my furniture to the garage loft at the house.  Move friend’s things to the basement at the house, or better yet find a way to get it back to him, or one of his relatives.  Terminate storage rental before Labor Day (September 7) .
4. At this point I’ll STILL be living in a rented bedroom with a shared kitchen.  BUT I will be flexible (free) enough to choose to continue living here or to finally get a place of my own.

That’s the point of all of this.  I feel trapped here in this situation, not free to live where I want because of all this STUFF weighing me down.

Digital Music

There was a question on the post about Downsizing Audio Equipment.  Did I ever get an iPod?  Well yes, I did get an iPod Touch.  The intent was to minimalize my audio electronics.  But, I still have the monolithic boombox on my desk.  The iPod is being used mostly as a pocket-sized internet browser.  Thanks for reminding me though, I had lost track of that goal.

There haven’t been any radio/speaker sets with ipod dock that I have liked enough to buy.  The iHome has nice features, but some reviews say they’re not very durable.  Also I am concerned about audio quality.  If they say it sounds “good for a clock radio”, then is that good enough to replace a desktop stereo?

Before the boombox is sold I’ll have to go through the boxes of audio cassettes and see if there’s anything I want to keep or convert to digital.  Maybe I can get to that before Winter ends.  I am reluctant to get a iPod speaker radio now because then I’ll have another thing on my crowded desk.

Christmas Gifts Found

Several of the gifts for my siblings this year were from my gigantic pile of stuff, which has been dramatically reduced this past year. I found a few powerful memory-invokers to share with family members, who may react to them in the same way I did, to keep them as a reminder of their personal history.  Because I am learning that I do not need to keep everything, it seems appropriate to pass one or two things onto others who might appreciate forgotten memories stirred up by an object from their own past.

Storage Continues

Paid my November rent on the storage unit today.  The temperatures have dropped so much lately I am wondering if I missed my chance to clear the space out before winter.  Made so much progress this summer, more than I have in years! I’d be done by now if all I had to deal with was my own stuff.  The storage unit is now mainly holding the boxes that in 1999 I agreed to “temporarily” store for my friend, who hasn’t responded to phone messages or email in six months.

Storing things for others has been the bane of my existence.   Not recommended.

One positive thing – I freecycled a large chair that has been wedged into this bedroom since 1995. Never had a place to put it, and didn’t like it anyway.  Kept it because it belonged to someone else.  Just got permission to give it away a couple weeks ago, and now it’s gone.

Downsizing Audio Equipment

I’m thinking about buying an iPod.  Don’t worry, I’m not giving in to a consumerist urge to buy something just for the sake of having a new toy.  Buying an iPod might be a way to minimize audio equipment.

My current audio setup consists of a large old “boom box” type stereo with two cassette decks and a single CD player, along with AM/FM radio.  I also have at least one bankers box full of old cassette tapes which I never listen to, about 40 CD’s, and a small collection of songs I bought from iTunes.  The stereo is a rather large black plastic monolith with takes up a big part of my desk.

The idea is to sell the stereo and replace it with an iPod and a radio/speaker unit.  That would take up much less desk space.  With no tape player, there’s no need to hang onto the box of cassettes, so they could be thrown out or given away.  The CD collection can be loaded into iTunes and copied onto the iPod.  I’d keep the CD’s of course so I can legally play the music, but they can be packed away instead of sitting around my desk in piles of clutter.  The speaker set would have an AM/FM radio built in so I can still listen to my stations, and it may include a remote control which I don’t have now.

A more radical idea is to get rid of the stereo and tapes, and not replace it with anything.  Do I really need a set of speakers on my desk?  The computer with iTunes could be the music player.  I would miss having a radio, which I use every day.  I’m no audiophile, but the little built-in speakers on my computer aren’t very good for music.

Anyway, there’s no definite plan yet for this, but I do think that I need to go digital to reduce my audio stuff.  Any suggestions?