Simplify :)

I haven't blogged in ages, but I've started a new project and I feel like writing about it will motivate me to follow through. We'll see. (Plus, I really miss writing. It's therapeutic.)

Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed by a lot of things: new job, money, apartment, physical clutter, emotional clutter. I decided that I needed to simplify my life. That sounds like a huge undertaking, but if I start small I can make it manageable. Baby steps.

My first "chore" was to go through my make-up, jewelry, perfume, and body lotions and get rid of what I don't want/need/use. Many of those things were gifts from former students, and I kept them out of guilt. It's hard to throw away a perfectly good bottle of body lotion... even if it's a scent I'll never use or a brand that makes my skin break out. So I threw away anything that was more than half empty and the rest went into a box. I'll figure out what to do with that later.

The next thing I did was sort out my new Christmas gifts and put everything away. I even took all the Christmas cookies that I got as gifts and put them in one container - eliminating all those little plastic bags made me feel better :) I went through the fridge and freezer and got rid of anything past its expiration date. I even went into the cabinets and organized the food. All of the baking supplies (chocolate chips, sprinkles, extracts, food coloring, cupcake papers) went into a clear storage box so that they're all together and out of the way.

I know I can't do it all at once. In fact, if I tried to do it all at once I'd get more overwhelmed and more stressed and I'd probably give up the whole project. So I'm going to make a plan for the next few days and then take some time today to let myself decompress.

So... the plan for the next few days is to go through my closet (specifically shoes and clothes) and to organize my desk and paperwork. I also want to go through my cookbook and plan out some meals, and then make my grocery list based on those meals so that I don't overbuy and clutter the fridge with stuff I don't really need.

I feel good about this. I hope I can keep it up.