Diary of a Move:
Day 1: (April 14, 2010) After 27 years of living in a home on Long Island, raising two children, accumulating all the “stuff” that goes hand in hand with that memorable journey…The time has come to let it all go. Yes, the kids have moved out on their own, (although their “stuff’ has not) the big house is quiet, and with the prodding of my husband and countless conversations, I knew that it was time to down-size. Today is that day, contracts have been signed, we have officially sold the house! At this time, we are looking into renting a smaller, temporary, living space. We don’t have a lot of time so it is time to get organized!!
And so….it is finally, time to MOVE THE MESS!
One would ask, where do I begin? How long will it take to pack? What do I keep? What do I trash? What and where can I donate or recycle? How can I rid myself of those precious sentimental items that I no longer have room to store? Will I need to use storage facilities? How can I make this an easy and pleasant transition for my family? Does this experience need to be a stressful one?
Well, here’s the thing. I should know how to do this, I have moved my widowed Mom three times, (down-sized from house to apartment to townhouse), moved both my children from college dorms to off campus group homes and then onto the more challenging small spaces of NYC apartment living. I was born innately organized, (I blame the wiring on my anal Mom) and have micro-managed my entire life and family. Yep, I’m the girl who loves going to Staples and buying the latest office supply products, loves to organize drawers and closets, or just about anything! (Bed, Bath, and Beyond is a favorite pit-stop) and have recently decided to make a professional career out of it! (Jan 2010 joined NAPO ; National Association of Professional Organizers)
Who would have thunk it? Over 4,000 of us across the country? Are you kidding me? What did I get myself into? OMG….a wealth of information and education, that’s for sure.
There are teleclasses and webinars, conferences, chapter meetings, books galore. The greatest challenges and biggest buzz about organization, is tackling the clutter. If there’s too much stuff, it can distract you from living a healthy, high functioning orderly life, and that means trouble on so many levels. Bottom line, de-clutter your life. As a Professional Organizer, my role is to aid you in letting go of the “stuff” you no longer use, identify those items that no longer serve a purpose, and to then recreate a new “order” to your life as you live it today. It’s all about shedding the old stuff.
So I’m thinking, this is an invaluable exercise for me to trade places, if you will, with my client, and more importantly, share my real life experiences with you. What makes this task such an arduous is one, is that ” I” am the subject in this project. Conversely, when I would be working alongside a client, I would have to be the objective eye (“Eyes of a Stranger”) that treats the project as an abstract one. My mere presence would change the whole dynamic. I would force the client to view from an objective vantage point, and focus on their organizing issues, not on their emotions. Today, I am not orchestrating from the sidelines, I am very much “in the game”. I’m prepared to document “the move” from start to finish so you can shadow this project as I go. This is a great lesson for me, do I practice what I preach? Can I “walk the walk”, or just “talk the talk”? How hard could it be for an Organizer to organize?