How Do You Like This Apple?

Look at me; combining two articles in one.

Efficient or crazy?  When you’re looking down the home stretch at a garage sale on Saturday, and you’re still at first base on Wednesday, I call it efficient.  When you’re up at 4 a.m., trying to hide the light from your laptop so it doesn’t wake the whole household (or at least the dog, because she’ll definitely sound the alarm), my husband calls that crazy.

Call it serendipity; the two topics dovetail perfectly.

Peter Walsh Design by Peter Walsh is my blog pick for this week.  Although I couldn’t quite find an actual blog on his site, he does have a running conversation on Facebook and you can sign up for his newsletter–I find myself para-quoting him constantly.  In the throes of garage-sale preparation, Peter Walsh-isms have become my mantra.

In his own words, Peter Walsh is known as the decluttering and organization guy.  He’s from Australia (lovely accent), and has the qualifications to support what he does.

When I told my husband I’d written to Peter Walsh asking to feature him in my weekly weigh-in and he’d graciously agreed, my husband asked if Peter was going to show up at our garage sale.

The idea made me tremble for two reasons.

1)  Horror.

While I don’t think viewing our home would bring in the sort of train-wreck fascination required to be on one of those extreme hoarding shows, the thought of cameras peeking into secret stashes of stuff even my husband hasn’t seen after all these years makes me vow to have the mother of all garage sales.

2) Thrills.

Peter Walsh is an idol of mine.  When Oprah showcased him and his Clean Sweep program on TLC, I told all my friends about him.  One friend, whose name I’ll guard steadfastly, ran right out and bought both his CD and book, It’s All Too Much. (Ironic for someone wanting to downsize, but…  that’s my friend.)  Fortunately, her double purchase came in handy as she let me listen to the CD while she read the book; then we switched.

(Also ironic is me buying Does This Clutter Make My BUTT Look FAT?, squirreling it away so my husband wouldn’t see it, but now not being able to find it amidst all my clutter…)

Peter offers so many tips, but the one I keep coming back to is about spending so much time dealing with clutter; it keeps us from living our lives.  (I mean, who does the cleaning on the soap operas?  Those people just waltz in and out of immaculate homes and have plenty of time to deal with switched-at-birth babies and long-lost scorned half-brothers turned millionaires with grudges.  You never see them frantically searching for sunglasses or car keys.)

Seriously, having too much stuff is a diversion to life.  Looking for something all the time is a diversion to life.  It’s also a diversion to writing.

So the pressure is on.  My garage sale awaits.  Stay-tuned for Part III.  ~JD here.

Sit. Desk. Write.