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Clutter and Decisions by J. J. Ranson

Writer's picture: Liz FlahertyLiz Flaherty

Are you tired of the stuff lying around your house? Or in your car? Your workplace? I sure am!


A few years ago, I embarked on a theme of organization (It was my word of the year, of course). I started out with Marie Kondo’s book about tidying up. Hubby and I tried to

watch her Netflix series, but we struggled with that.


With my own plan, I pecked away at the edges of our middle-class accumulations, but I didn’t go as far as I should have.


Stuff, it seems, causes stress. No, really, it does! Over a decade ago, I sat in my faculty

office unable to focus because all I could think about was the strange stuff in our attic.

I’d married a packrat, and I had no idea what all that “junk” was. I perched my valuables

precariously on top of his attic mess. I’ve been a pile person most of my life, so I’ve little

room to criticize.


After my husband died in 2022, I inherited empty product containers — the contents had

literally evaporated from unopened bottles. Weird, huh? To deal with the unexpected

trash, my oldest daughter suggested a second trash can, allowing me a slow,

methodical process of gleaning and cleaning. I’ve been faithful to clean something every

single week.


It’s been a process — cleansing, yet diabolically painful. Cleansing as I free up space

and see new possibilities. Diabolical because the decisions required on many days

exceed my bandwidth.


Eventually, I rented a dumpster to aid in the emptying of a garage. My three kids and

their significant others showed up on a Saturday morning and filled that dumpster. We

also made two trips to the dump.


I wish I could say it went perfectly… but it did not because there was so much detritus

piled in, on, and around ancient furniture and shelves. I’d been unaware of some

interesting content. At least, my family thought some items might be of monetary

interest.


When questioned about a potentially valuable electronic “thing,” I had to sigh and

say, “Okay, don’t toss it. Put it over there and I’ll research it later.” I had at least six dusty

things to ponder.


It was quite overwhelming what my husband left behind. Multiple collections, some of

which have value and others, eh, not so much. Deciding… therein lies the problem.

What to keep, what to sell, what to toss?


Margareta Magnusson, author of the 2018 book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death

Cleaning: How to Make Your Loved Ones’ Lives Easier and Your Own Life More

Pleasant, calls household clutter a “source of irritation.”


Irritation, indeed.


And now that I’m retired and widowed, I regularly ask myself, “Why am I here?” and

“What’s next?”


And about my home, I continually ask… “what to keep, what to toss?”


The new question I try to entertain is this one: If I buy a new household item, is there something somewhere in the house that can GO to create space for it?


I’m not there yet. No… I have not “arrived” in minimalist heaven.


That I am having these thoughts and asking these questions shows I am growing, even

while I consider shrinking my personal possessions. I wish I could say that I’ve quit

buying. I have not.


The biggest lesson I carry with me now is that I must examine everything that crosses

my fingertips — evaluate its usefulness and its longevity over my remaining life and into

my children’s lifetimes. Do I want my children to mess with “this thing” in the future? It is

an enormous question… and one I am putting to my children… now.


Do they want this thing, this collection? What will I keep because it still “sparks joy” for

me? (you’re a sicko, Marie Kondo!) Should I buy that pillow with the pithy summer

saying about the porch, the beach, or lake life? I probably will. Sigh.


No one who knows me would doubt that I adored my late husband, Bob. He was the

kindest person I’ve ever known, truly. He “saw” me, and loved me anyway — for that, I

will be eternally grateful.


Bob taught me an organizational lesson or two — on what not to do. (I love you, darling

Bob!) I started on a minimizing journey while he was ill, and we had a few interesting

conversations about the accumulation of “stuff.”


My husband accumulated a lot of things, yet he was a man of very few words. After I

experienced a traumatic family crisis, I began to write. I shared with him my first short

pieces and here’s what he said, “Whatever you do, never stop writing.”


That encouragement helped get me to the finish line of my first novel, and then another.

Novel three will be released in July 2025. I have two more books on the 2025 publishing

calendar.


I hope you’ll seek me out on social media and my website.


Julie Ranson, aka J. J. Ranson



She Danced Anyway in e-book and paperback can be found at many online retailers.


His Christmas Muse in e-book and paperback can be found at many online retailers.

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7 Comments


Guest
Feb 06

Oh my goodness! So sorry for your loss. I understand completely where you're at. Been there myself. Hang in there and never stop writing!


Pamela S Thibodeaux

Edited
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Mary Schiller
Mary Schiller
Feb 06

What a beautiful and simple compliment he gave you by saying, "Whatever you do, never stop writing." That's another way he saw you. He saw your talent and your need to write.


My husband recently retired and we moved from our house of 35+ years to a small condo. I was surprised by how easy it was to let go of things once I started. But, I'll admit, when we got to the new place and I realized I had enough storage that I could have kept some of those things, I did feel a twinge of regret. But it didn't last long. I love living in our small space. I'm not toting laundry up and down two sets of…


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Roseann Brooks
Feb 06

I hope the end result of your decluttering is a sense of freedom. My husband and I recently downsized from a huge old home to a one-bedroom apartment with a den. In our new place, every day, I am thankful that I don't have all the "stuff" to navigate around (or even think about) anymore. Full disclosure, we have a mountain home and can store stuff there, but it's nice to know that the things I've kept are the things that really matter to me.

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Guest
Feb 05

I have read Margareta Magnusson's book as well, and it left an impression on me. I don't want to burden my children with our junk after we're gone. So I'm slowly trying to declutter. In the spring I want to have a yard sale to get rid of stuff we don't need or use anymore. Whatever is left over will be donated. But after that it gets tricky. What do you do with the things that were left to you, things that are sentimental? What do you do with things from your children's childhood? Lots of reflecting to be done.

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Liz Flaherty
Liz Flaherty
Feb 05
Replying to

Hi, Jana!

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Liz Flaherty
Liz Flaherty
Feb 05

Thanks for being here today, Julie! I love your post--and identify with it a bit too much. :-)

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