We went away for our anniversary (yay!) and stayed in our favorite inn on the Oregon coast. As we left our room that final day, I pondered how restful and peaceful and tidy it was, and resolved to do something about our room when we got home. I had a vision and a plan, and it came to fruition this week. It involved making some decisions like this may be a nice big dresser but it doesn't fit this space, and yes, we love books, but we don't need two bookshelves in our room, and it involved moving out four major pieces of furniture and repainting an old dresser and rearranging and a whole lot of sorting through things.Mostly PAPERS.
There is just a lot of paper in my life.
Yesterday I sat down before a HUGE stack of papers with an iced latte nearby and sorted. I recycled some and divvied the rest into piles I wanted to save, and it occurred to me that you can tell a lot about a person from their sorted papers. This is what I found as I sorted:
- drawings, pictures, notes and cards from my kids. Oh so many of these. I love this. And while I don't save every one, I do save a lot of them, simply because they delight me, and every time I look through them they bring me joy. I saw so many I love you's and mommy's and misspellings and little drawings particular to each of the kids that are so *them* and long letters from my sweet Ella and my heart was full.
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| my most recent box of smaller letters, cards and notes. (most of the kids' drawings went into another box that both Mark and I add to) |
-verses copied down on various scraps of paper: some laminated, some all prettied up with markers, some mounted on card stock. God's words, written down for memory or reminder. Most of them for me, but some of them for the kids, too.
-homeschooling-related lists or ideas or plans: school-planning lists, book lists I'd jotted down, daily schedules and daily index cards, some printables and worksheets I'd printed out and had gotten lost in the shuffle.
-devotional papers: so, prayer lists and categories I want to be praying for, and Bible studies printed out, study tips and notes.
-recipes and meal plans and grocery lists
Yep. That about sums up my life. :)
What kinds of papers would you find? Or am I the only one who is still attached to paper in this digital world? ;) And if anyone has any paper organizational tips, go ahead and send them my way. :) I have several piles now (see above list) that I need to find a home for.
And not in our bedroom!
ps: our bedroom looks so nice and tidy and I LOVE IT.
Our bedroom literally only contains a bed and small dresser (for my clothes only). It is a very small space, but at least clutter free!
ReplyDeletePaper...well I'm still fighting that particular monster.
Yes. I need way more clutter-free-ness in my life. ;)
DeleteYou are so smart! It took me this many years to figure out that we need to pull things OUT of our room to make it less crowded.
I love paper stuff too! Aside from what my kids make or draw, my papers live in two spiral notebooks that are not artsy, just regular writing. One is my brain on paper, the other is my book quotes and Bible passages that strike me as I read. I still have all my greeting cards from childhood, our wedding, and etc.
ReplyDeleteOur bedroom has our queen bed, four tall-ish bookcases, one nightstand and one dresser with five drawers that we share. Our closet is just a regular size, with two sliding mirrored doors. Needless to say, we don't have huge wardrobes. :) Since our house is small, 1,000 square feet on three levels, I only keep the stuff I really do want.
Paper does have a way to consume so many nook and crannies! I think one of the little blessings of my forced move is that I have to keep it all under control because our space is sooo small. Living with less clutter yields great freedom.
ReplyDelete