Hit a wall on the deep/spring cleaning.

[Zoe Girl]

I am not sure what I expected, okay the plan was to spend about a week really working on the cleaning stuff and then enjoy the cleaner space for about 2 weeks while working on some other reading and writing projects before going back to work. Well it is almost a week and the house looks much worse, it makes sense but it is demoralizing and so bad that I am not meditating much because my space is not relaxing. All the factors are good things, but ahhhh

* my son and my daughter have had friends over! they are all good kids and not too messy but extra people in a really small space is hard (the teenage boys were even trying to learn to play spades instead of violent video games)
* my oldest is signing a lease Monday! there is work needed on the rental so it may be a week or 2, so meanwhile her space and stuff is in limbo still,
* my ex brought the kids stuff, this does include painting canvases but also VHS tapes back to Fiddler on the roof, one more Goodwill trip there
* I got one bathroom cleaned and painted! Both bathrooms look great but the other needs paint on a day it isn't too hot, so painting supplies are around

I was inspired by a weight loss story on the internet. A lady lost over 100 lbs, amazing huh, she is living a healthier lifestyle for her family, but she didn't reach her goal weight. Well the American ideal is to never give up and push harder but she knew that in previous weight loss programs she got close then discouraged and gained much of it back. So she agreed to stop and maintain with the support of her husband and DR. So that helped me create this plan

* focus on my bedroom tonight, kids are making and cleaning up dinner so I am off duty for the evening (maybe a stop at the gym for a break), make my room wonderful and peaceful and create my meditation space with fresh flowers
* paint the bathroom early tomorrow even if I miss church, Stop there instead of painting accent walls and ask my middle daughter to create some art work with those canvases to dress up the room
* Do 2 more projects (tool collection and sorting and laundry room cleaning/purging) by the time I leave for a full moon meditation vigil on Monday by setting time limits on the work, then call it good enough
* be done and enjoy 9 more days of break without cleaning/purging projects

[fidgiegirl]

I love how you found inspiration for your project in a completely different topic (the weight loss article). I also understand the desire to "cram" all of this into your brief time off. When I am off of school I do the same thing. You are wise to call it good enough so that you can still enjoy some of your vacation. After all, I must remind myself, the to-do list is never all done - and if it were, how boring life would be.

Onward! :)

[Rosemary]

Two things that help me get things done AND slow down:
One: A friend taught me her mantra, "Done is better than perfect."
Two: just take a Zen approach. The learning is in the doing, not having it done. My big landscaping project this year is just something I do when time time presents itself, not something I'm working on day and night to finish by some artificial deadline. The snow will cover it for 4 months in November whether or not it is done.

[Zoe Girl]

Okay how bad is it if I just throw everything away!! aaaacck, I want to be a buddhist in a hut, or a yurt, or something without any stuff,

I do feel super awesome about cleaning out books at church. We had a kitchen fire at church and the smoke came up through the room we have for children, and so the restoration company took all the stuff and I heard we were not getting any books back. We recently had donations of more books and this was very sad. So surprise, they were able to clean all the books and return them!! That means 6 boxes of books for a space shared with other uses and one book shelf. I had to be brutal and cull through the books, 2 boxes are going to another home. I kept the beautiful classics and anything that was Bible or Bible story related. So the person helping me is a stuff person and I am not a stuff person but she respected me being tough on the book cleaning. I felt good,

[kitten]

[QUOTE=Zoe Girl;149340]Okay how bad is it if I just throw everything away!! aaaacck, I want to be a buddhist in a hut, or a yurt, or something without any stuff.../QUOTE]

Keep going :) It does feel good. Sometimes I find myself in a less cluttered situation just out of laziness. We moved recently - I left the kitchen stuff until the last day, and I realized I didn't want to move about half the pots and pans, glassware and spices. So I didn't. In our new kitchen we've got more storage (or maybe just more light, anyway it's better) and it's good to open a cabinet and see it only half full. It's fun to use less space than what's available. I"m going to make sure I don't start adding without getting rid of something else!