Me vs The Universe

It is said that the Universe is always moving toward a state of entropy. Chaos wins over. When we try to control the nature of the universe, we lose every time. The chaotic Universe is definitely winning. That said, May has been kind of a bust. I started off the month all gung-ho to get rid of all my superfluous stuff. Here on the first day of June, all I can say is “eh.”

I got some stuff out of here — mostly outgrown kids clothes, kids papers, and some of my own clothes that I no longer like or wear. But there is so much more to do.

I started off strong. At the beginning of the month my kids’ school had an electronics/softgoods recycling drive, and I got a lot of stuff out of my attic. But cleaning stuff out of my attic that I don’t ever see unless I am going up there to put something else I don’t need “in storage” isn’t really all that satisfying. I don’t spend much time in the attic. I need to get rid of stuff in the rest of the house.

The Happiness Project and the Fly Lady and all those Real Simple magazines that taunt me from my nightstand all talk about being “liberated” from all the clutter in your house. That it is “exhilarating” to get rid of stuff you don’t need and be surrounded only by the things you really love and that are useful and beautiful. I am not feeling liberated. Every day that I go through stuff in my house and weed out what needs to go, my kids come home with piles of artwork and school projects. Their teachers are emptying out their classrooms and filling up my house with more stuff.

It is slowly getting better, but I still feel like if I stop this constant effort to get rid of things, I will be engulfed by the clutter. I want to believe I should embrace the chaos. Chaos fuels creativity. Or insanity. Or something, I’m sure. Please understand that I am not a neat freak. I don’t really expect to have a pristine home all the time. Or ever, really. I just don’t want to feel like I will be swallowed by all the papers and shoes and laundry and sports equipment and puppy toys that seem to be everywhere all the time. I can’t fight the forces of the universe. They are too much for me.