Decluttering

I am not sick anymore. Everything returned to normalcy, more or less, on Friday, and it's a joy to have real food and to be able to sleep on a normal schedule again. After all this, I am very, very, very thankful for my health, and the somewhat rocky start to 2007 has made me, strangely, calmer and happier.

And, riding on the wave of the positive energy, I have decided to start reorganizing other areas of my life, and to attempt to simplify things. After the very stressful exam period (and the vacation period spent sick and somewhat depressed), many areas of my life feel like they are growing out of control. For one thing, my apartment has been uber-messy and also increasingly dirty. The stuff that I retrieved from ex-boyfriend's condo is piled in boxes against my livingroom wall, making it cluttered and unpleasant to be in. There are papers and books and knickknacks covering every available surface, making my apartment an unpleasant place to study (which is probably why I was over at Starbucks so much).

In any event, starting Friday night, I spent many, many hours organizing everything, sorting through my papers, throwing things away, and putting away the boxes. Then I mopped, washed, wiped, dusted, and vacuumed my entire apartment. The whole thing probably took more than 10 hours to complete. I went to bed at 5:30 am on Friday night (well, Saturday morning really) and 3:00 am on Saturday night (Sunday morning). I threw away more than 4 large bags of trash, mostly paper. I sorted out 3 extremely large shopping bags of clothing that I will not need and plan to donate to Salvation Army or something. I moved my furniture around so my desk is now by the window where there is more natural light, and I have my painting equipment against one wall so that I can start painting again relatively easily.

I also found some nice old photos of Eastern Europe from 2002. Oh memories. I framed some of them and hung them on my wall. I miss Prague. I miss Slovenia. I miss the Mediterranean Sea.

There is still a lot more paper to go through, but at least they are all piled neatly and in a box rather than all over my desks, tables, chairs, and floors. I also need to get rid of some of my old furniture, replacing it with furniture more suited to my apartment. But for now, this is good. I'm now sitting in my leather recliner, eating tomato soup and reading family law, feeling at ease in my surroundings.

Even sleeping is a lot better now, because I feel like my environment is cleaner, neater, and more to my liking. Yay.