Simplify.....

I just watched the documentary "TINY: A Story About Living Small" and was absolutely fascinated by it.

In a nutshell the film is about a man and his desire to build a tiny home.  He starts off by buying a trailer  (no, not a trailer home ---- a flatbed utility trailer) and the movie ends with the finished product being a 124 square foot house built upon the trailer which, I have to admit, looked really nice.

Throughout the film there are interviews with other tiny home owners; the largest home in the entire film was just 500 square feet and held a family of four.

One thing that really struck a chord with me was how clean every house was.  Now I'm sure the homes aren't that clean all the time and only one tiny home owner had children.  Still, I was amazed at how well utilized the limited space was with cubby holes, tables that fold and stow away, a small loft for sleeping quarters, etc. etc..  There were small heaters mounted to the wall that ran on the propane tanks used for gas grills, and somehow every tiny home had a bathroom and shower in a separate room.  The creativity that goes into creating a comfortable living environment within a minuscule amount of space is incredible.

Although I don't know that I could live in a tiny home.  I guess it would depend on who else is in the house.  If it's going to be someone (any one of my brothers) who is going to blow up the bathroom every morning I would say hell no.  With a house that small, I doubt you could burn enough candles to keep it smelling fresh.  But, I digress.

 In the end what the documentary did was focus my attention on my own house.  I have nearly 1,500 square feet and, while clean, the house is cluttered.  I was only slightly bothered by the clutter before viewing the documentary.....Now it aggravates the shit out of me.

I have an assortment of bags and totes sitting in one corner of the house and a ton of ball gear in another corner that spills over into the next room holding my home gym.  Neither really have a true home within the household.

I have a dining room table that I would just love to sell because all it does is collect crap.  Mail, magazines, art supplies, clothes, cups, and an odd assortment of things that get dumped there whenever someone can't figure out what to do with it.

I have a utility room that I can can barely get into with all the recycling that gets deposited there until we can find time to get rid of it.

And don't even get me started on the kitchen counters.......

Another thing that the movie brought to my attention was the minimal amount of personal possessions these tiny house owners possessed.  I feel I've been spoiled for way too long.

How do those people in those tiny houses do it?  How do they manage to keep everything tidy?

Actually, I know what they do.....but I'm dreading it. They only have what is necessary to live; a minimal amount of personal possessions.  If I want to live as they do, I'm going to have to simplify.  I'm going to have to (gulp) purge.  Not an easy task for this pack rat.

But I'm not a hoarder --- I've seen that show.  You know, maybe I should watch and episode or two of that and then I will feel better about myself.  I can look around the house and happily proclaim.  "I can see the floor --- good enough, man, good enough."

No....I have to fix this.  Once I become annoyed by something, I simply cannot rest until I cure what ails me.  (Although, sometimes, if I bitch about it long enough, Karla will fix it just to shut me up.)

I'm not going to throw family members under the bus (although it would be fun)....Instead I will start by focusing on myself. I have to go through my own things and rid myself of what I don't use.  After that I can work on the family.

 I have at least fourteen pairs of shoes and only wear five or six, and I have an entire closet of clothes of which I only wear a fraction of. These items definitely contribute to the clutter as I usually have both shoes and sweatshirts laying about the house.

I own 14 ball caps and only wear two, maybe three of them.  (Maybe I should wear some of the others....My Cubs hat is about to rot off my head.)

I have sports gear laying everywhere that is doing nothing but collecting dust.  (Mainly my pitching machine....rendered useless after a bad storm destroyed my batting cage.)

Start with me....It's important that I start with me......Simplify first, then I can branch out.

Other ideas to reduce clutter.......For in the meantime.

I'm half tempted to give each kid a cup, plate, bowl and utensils and tell them to keep it in their room.  They would only eat and drink out of those items given, wash and dry them immediately, and then take everything back to their rooms.  I'm willing to bet that that would take care of the piles of dishes that I have to wash on a daily basis.

Plus, if I find a plate laying by the computer and spaghetti sauce all over the keyboard, I won't have to do any detective work to find out who the culprit was......Not that that's ever happened...Ahem.

But, I'm not sure that it's a good idea.....It seems a bit extreme....I may have to ponder that move for a while.

One thing that I will most definitely enforce is that when the someone takes their shoes off that they immediately take that pair to their room.  I'm looking around the living room now and I see four pairs of shoes laying about -- and one of them is mine.  Actually, four pair is a light day.  Toby and I are both shoe freaks capable of scattering Nike's all over the house.  You can literally walk into almost every room in the house and find a pair of shoes that belong to either Toby or myself.

I believe I will also invest in a paper shredder.  Mail has a way of piling up on the dining room table; and seeing the piles of mail gets me grinding my teeth....ARRRGGHHH!!!   It's gotta go!!!!!



But anyway......Two weeks from now ball season will be over...and so the purge will begin-----with Karla's help, of course.

I tend to develop and attachment to my things.  I just know I'm going to be like a two year old that just refuses to give up his binky.  Karla will have to be there to wrestle my things away from me.

(Here's a good example of what I mean....I have a long sleeve t-shirt that I have had since before Toby was born ---- he's fourteen now.  You can't even tell what used to be on the shirt, I believe it may have been an eagle at one point.  But, hey, it's comfy dammit.)

Early on in our marriage Karla would argue with me about getting rid of things.  My clothes being the chief topic of conversation.

Karla: "Tom, you really need to get rid of that flannel shirt."

Me:  "But it's my favorite."

Karla:  "It has holes in it and it used to be green...Now it's brown."

Me: "But it's broke in....It's comfortable."

But, just like everything else that Karla said needed to be thrown out, it simply disappeared.

"Have you seen my flannel shirt?"

"No, but I got you a new one."

"But I don't want a new........HEEEEYYY??!!  Did you throw out my flannel shirt?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Eventually Karla stopped suggesting that I throw out anything....My shit just started disappearing.  What's really annoying about the whole thing is that I can't prove that she's thrown away any of my stuff.  She must be going ninja on me; getting up in the middle of the night to raid and plunder my closets.

I swear, if I had a dollar for every time time I said, "Dammit, I can't find my ----"

This time, however, I will do the purging. No, seriously, I will. It may take a lot of beer and waffling, but I will begin the purge...I have to get rid of all the excess. I have to simplify.. I have to get rid of the things that I really don't need.  No....more....clutter.

Start with me.....Then I can branch out.

I just hope Karla doesn't laugh too much as she watches me struggle.....

Man, I should have never watched that movie.