THIS HAS BEEN MY LIFE FOR THE PAST 4 DAYS:
Seeing if it's possible to fit my entire life into a 5 x 10 storage space (plus a 5 x 5 space in the storage area over my parent's garage) In doing so, I learned a number of things:
1) I am not as good at packing as I was when I was a traveler and moved every three months. Back then, I was a packing and moving machine! I could get everything packed into the exact same rubbermade container and the containers in my jeep in the exact same order every time. I was systematic. I was focused. I was a moving force of nature! This time, I rather felt like Ten Second Tom from 50 First Dates. I was unfocused and unorganized and it took me way longer than I thought it would.
2) Probably because I've accumulated so much stuff. What's strange is that I purge regularly. (My possessions, not my lunch) I try to follow the "one in, one out" rule. I don't shop a lot. Yet somehow, I ended up drowning in stuff.
3) A lot of my stuff defies categorization. Which may have contributed greatly to the time it took to pack. In general, like goes in the same box with like. But I had so many little unique things that did not lend themselves to the groups. Now I have entirely too many "miscellaneous" bags.
4) I clean way more when I leave a place than when I'm living in it. That may be partially due to the fact that when you live somewhere, all your stuff is in the way when you clean so you clean around it. But that still doesn't fully explain why I turned into an Italian grandmother this weekend.
5) When cleaning and packing, something inevitably spills.
6) The only thing that makes a bigger mess than a container of wasabi peas is a half-closed bottle of laundry detergent.
(Did I mention that this took me a lot longer than anticipated?)
But I think it was a good exercise in systematically focusing and getting to the other side. Which I will need. Because for the next few months, I will fit my life into this:
1) I am not as good at packing as I was when I was a traveler and moved every three months. Back then, I was a packing and moving machine! I could get everything packed into the exact same rubbermade container and the containers in my jeep in the exact same order every time. I was systematic. I was focused. I was a moving force of nature! This time, I rather felt like Ten Second Tom from 50 First Dates. I was unfocused and unorganized and it took me way longer than I thought it would.
2) Probably because I've accumulated so much stuff. What's strange is that I purge regularly. (My possessions, not my lunch) I try to follow the "one in, one out" rule. I don't shop a lot. Yet somehow, I ended up drowning in stuff.
3) A lot of my stuff defies categorization. Which may have contributed greatly to the time it took to pack. In general, like goes in the same box with like. But I had so many little unique things that did not lend themselves to the groups. Now I have entirely too many "miscellaneous" bags.
4) I clean way more when I leave a place than when I'm living in it. That may be partially due to the fact that when you live somewhere, all your stuff is in the way when you clean so you clean around it. But that still doesn't fully explain why I turned into an Italian grandmother this weekend.
5) When cleaning and packing, something inevitably spills.
6) The only thing that makes a bigger mess than a container of wasabi peas is a half-closed bottle of laundry detergent.
(Did I mention that this took me a lot longer than anticipated?)
But I think it was a good exercise in systematically focusing and getting to the other side. Which I will need. Because for the next few months, I will fit my life into this:
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