Moving on–How to get Your House Ready for Market–Getting rid of Paper Clutter

Note point 3 of vision board card under
the "Create a Great Living Space" column

I have always thought of myself as one who is in touch with my feelings, but now I wonder. I am about to make some major changes to my life–I believe one of my final stages of life. While I've been planning for this change for quite some time now, the time frame has been forced upon me. That, in itself, is a source of bitterness and anger for me, but I don't want to focus on that…those things are beyond my control.
What I do want to focus on is how quickly changes can happen when there is a need for them to happen. While plans to sell this house have been underway for some time now, the actual date of March 1st is new since December, (when the unemployment benefits were suddenly shut down) and right around the corner. Getting the house ready for market has been the focus of almost all of our activity. With new kitchen and bathrooms in place, what was/is left to do is a bit of painting and getting rid of stuff–all that stuff you accumulate over the years because you can–because you have the space.

Getting Rid of Clutter-An Ongoing Goal

Lucky for me, getting rid of clutter has been an ongoing goal, but when you need to do it to move on, you need to become even more ruthless. ( See earlier post on this subject Checking with my Core Values)
True, there has been a very significant decrease in the amount of traditional or US mail we receive, but still the tendency to put interesting mail, magazines, brochures, etc. aside to look at later has a strong  influence. Plus Tom has a tendency to bring home menus  and other freebie handouts  and he also prints out information from the computer.  And then keeps it.

Maybe it's the printer in us. Maybe it's  a weird illusion that some day we will have excess time and choose to sit around for a week and read stuff. Paper stuff. Whatever the reason for accumulating piles of papers, they are more a source of easy clutter to get rid of than future joy and relaxation.  Below are my suggestions for dealing with accumulated paper clutter.  

• Magazines– for an article, cut out the article and throw away the magazine. Better yet, set aside a reading time, read it and discard it. Scan it if it's something you feel like you may refer to in the future but check first to see if it's not online already. A good example of this kind of paper clutter is recipes.
• Pictures– from magazines, brochures or even your own, put them in a journal. Below is a picture of my journal that includes a note I want to save (stuffed in an envelope glued to the journal) some doodles I made on random paper and a picture from a gallery brochure from a Maxfiend Parish exhibit.
• Mail– While mail is on the decline, I find it best to deal with it before it hits the table. Determine junk mail and immediately dump it into the recycle bin. Important stuff,like bills (if you aren't completely paperless, should go directly in a designated spot so as not to slip through the cracks of busy life. We use a simple basket. 
• Photos–This is a tough one. At this point, we have not dealt with our huge collection of photos. The are stored in our attic in large bins, ready to move to our next home. I am only writing this now to acknowledge  this is a big paper problem. I suspect I will scan them all some day but the task seems so overwhelming I can't deal with it right now.
• Art–Similar to photos, I have boxes and boxes of drawing and painting I've done over the years. Again, I'm not sure how I will deal with these or if I even will. Sorry kids, I might leave it up to you.

Checking in With My Core Values

One year, I think it was about 2011, I created a vision board on my birthday. One of the things I generally do on my birthday is check in with myself. Am I happy? Am I doing what I want to do with my life? What are my core values anyway?

I put all my answers to these questions on index cards and arranged them on a giant bulletin board in my computer/studio room. I added pictures, articles, notes and even an old 45 for additional support. I really didn't make changes or hardly ever looked at the board since I arranged the pictures and cards in 2011.

What's striking to me today is how these values are still relevant.  I am especially struck by my third column cards. Just this week I put out 3 bags of paper into the recycle bin and that was just from this room alone. I'm already working on a fourth bag. I've been shipping boxes of junk to my sister to sell on eBay all summer long and still my attic is not empty. 

Granted, I've been working more seriously at this since we decided we are putting our house on the market next summer, but it is striking how I've been working at this since 2011 and still have so far to go.

What's with Artists and Clutter

I'm not sure if artists in particular are more prone to clutter than others or that I read a lot of art magazines but I have found several  articles about getting rid of clutter as I sort through and dump my old art magazines. (I'm saving these articles for now to read weekly to keep me on motivated.) What I am realizing is how much time this is taking and, as I continue to root through my stuff, how little time I am spending on making art, which is what I really want to be doing.

One of the best critiques about clutter hwas made by George Carlin a long time ago, but still so relevant today. Classic George Carlin on Stuff

Fire Place Finally Done

It's been difficult lately to keep up my painting challenge. There is so much to do in the house. After 2 coats of primer and a wrong color choice, I finally got the fireplace painted. We also had the hearth done. Next the drywall guys come back and fix a few issues with the ceiling and plaster my studio. I'm happy to get the work done but it is disruptive to my creativity. It's hard to paint when its hard to get to your paint and paper. That's why so much articles about staying motivated and creative focus on the need for space.

I have one small painting to upload this week but plan on doing another one in a few days. I really look forward to getting back into the everyday painting flow.

For now, this is it.