Practical things

Tom is off hunting for the next week so this is the time I use to clean and de-clutter a bit.  I never throw away anything of his, but there are things of mine that he doesn't think I should get rid of because his family gave them to me...like 20 years ago.  I maintain that if they gave it to me, it's mine and I should be able to do what I want with it, especially after some years have passed.  I really don't think they hang onto everything we gave them, nor should they.  Still, it's like pulling teeth to get Tom to let me give or throw things away.  I just wait until he's gone and do it.  It's not like he's got an inventory of my things, after all.  We are bursting at the seams in this tiny house because he doesn't want to throw anything away.

So...to me getting rid of things that are of no use to you anymore, or are damaged or just taking up space, makes good spiritual sense.  Hanging onto things for no reason seems to be a bit like bondage of sorts. I feel trapped by all the things that take up space and press in on me with their bulk.  The things I can give to someone else, or pass onto a thrift store, will do someone else good instead of taking up much-needed space in a tiny house.  Clutter and crowding make me tense and tension like that doesn't help my spirituality at all.

So this week we will bundle up some things for Goodwill or the thrift store and hopefully clear the air up a bit in here.  Other things will go in the trash.  I hate to do that but I can't think of any other place for them.  I've tried to freecycle things but most people want things in pristine condition and don't want to repair anything.  They constantly look for things on freecycle that are new or nearly new.  And expensive.  It got so bad that at one time the moderators had to start deleting posts that simply wanted to furnish their homes for free.

So some things just go in the trash.

I am trying to get back to frugality-minded living again.  I used to be pretty good at it but I had energy at that time and didn't have arthritis in my knees and hip and my fibromyalgia wasn't as bad as it is now.  Still, it's a state of mind that I need to get back to.  Even if we could afford not to, I think it would still be more in line with the person I think I am spiritually.  I really need to be more conscious of the environment, of spending money on things that we don't need and focusing on the future.  I like myself better when I make more effort that way.

And having said all that, I need to get busy doing it.  The birds have eaten all their food so I need to refill their feeders today and put out my barley offerings to the gods out where they can do some good.  Last night I woke up to see the cat on my altar eating the barley.  I didn't know cats ate raw barley.  I have had to use kill traps on the mice because they were finding their way back in and increasing their population radically.  So I thought what I heard was a mouse on my altar.  Odd.

It's a beautiful day today with sunshine and temps in the high 40s so I hope that makes me feel more like getting things done.  Because if I don't do them, they just don't get done.