Mama Kelly
Lady Rose
As I’ve been stating on Twitter I spent much of the past weekend cleaning.
The family & I live with my father (affectionately known on this blog as Mr. Grumpy). I won’t bore you with the whys and wherefores but will tell you that 4 people living in 3 rooms and a bath leads to a bit of overcrowding and a lot of clutter. Currently the set up is that GamerDude & I have a bedroom, the girls share a bedroom, and the 3rd room is a living room/computer room.
As the last couple of years have gone by it has become more and more obvious that Miss Artistic & Princess Nibbles really do need to each have their own room. The plan therefore is to disassemble our living room and turn it into a bedroom for Miss Artistic, as well as re-paint the “old room” to create a special place for Princess Nibbles when we are done.
In order to make this work will require a lot of physical labor on my part. I have to create room in the attic to move other stuff into for storage. I have to reorganize our bedroom to allow GamerDude’s desktop(s) to move in with us there. I have to empty every drawer, closet, and box.
We have to pare down how much we own. We have to stop bring more stuff into a space that doesn’t have the room to support it. I have to get creative about storage. I have to get better about cleaning.
Much will be thrown away, even more will be donated, and some will be sold on Amazon.com or brought over to my local Sell it on Ebay store.
The reward (other than progress toward achieving the eventual goal) is finding things I forgot about, little treasures from my past.
Some of what I found in this round of cleaning:
- books that belonged to my grandparents (I adore old books!!!)
- notes and writings from when Lady Rose & I were briefly working on creating our own tradition of Wicca, some of which will be finding their way to 2Witches
- lots of other print outs that can be used if I follow through with my idea of creating a Book of Shadows (in a decorative scrapbooking kind of way)
- and about 30 days worth of brief journal entries from 1995, when we got our first PC as a married couple and discovered the joy and obsession that is the internet
It was the later that really drew my attention and I thought I’d share some excerpts here:
April 15, 1995
Led the Circle at (Lady Rose’s) tonight … everyone seemed to really like the meditation. We did 3 workings including one to bring Lady Rose’s dog home who had run away. On the way I saw a cloud all by itself in the shape of a small dog, immidiately “knew” that M___ was still okay and took it as a good sign.
April 17, 1995
M___ is home!!!
April 20, 1995
Had a dream last night. Was with (Lady Rose) and her mom came over to give me gifts - feathers. One was grey with blue in the “center”, one was opalescent with a spider’s web pattern, and one was cream w/ purple. In the dream receiving these was extremely significant, like getting a sign.
April 26, 1995
Did a candle spell yesterday for (Lady Rose & her hubby) to help them adopt a baby. I took a plain white candle and annointed it with frankinscense & some of (Miss Artistic’s) spit. Using very simple forms I carved a happy baby, two happy people, & a heart.
Used the chant “As this candle doth burn and glow, bring a baby to their hearth and home” (copyright Mama Kelly 1995)
When the candle first started burning the wick got a bead of silver on it and the thought entered my mind “pregnant with dew”. Also the candle (a 10 hr. votive) burned a hole straight down the middle in about 30 minutes. I hope its a sign … I hope … I hope.
Blessings
Mama Kelly
Filed under: * author - mama kelly, Life & Family, Wicca & Paganism | Tagged: cleaning, personal, wicca, wiccan, witchcraft, memories, diary, Spells, clutter, journal
While you are reshuffling your things, don’t forget that to take advantage of vertical space! We just got done putting in a ton of shelving in every weird corner we could find (in the weirdly high space in our stairwell, for example). You can find great heavy duty shelving stuff at Ikea for cheap. Works great in the kid’s rooms, too, for books, and chachkis.
How great is it when you discover something that you’ve put away and forgotten about?
Great idea to clean and clear your spaces and then claim and create fresh ones that work for you and your family now. Living spaces of any size, shape or style should change and reflect the ones who lives there — and their changing reqirements. I believe that homework and home-creating is vitally important to any spiritual well-being. These tasks really connect us to our center. You were meant to find those books! I actually feel “lighter” after I clear out — which was my task yesterday so I am heading to Goodwill today to drop off a number of very full bags!
Take care! Jan at Rosemary Cottage
Less clutter, less aggravation. I only wish I had the time/energy to unclutter & clean up.
And the excerpts you shared were wonderful. I think it’s very cool that you two have each other.
Thanks everyone for stopping by and your comments - I know I need all the encouragement I can get
This “clearing out junk” is going to be a momumental task at my house - I am estimating at least a year or two (hopefully not more then that) - mostly due to physical limitations since I can’t stand or lift much. But also just the logistic of how to get all the junk out of the places it is stuffed into and then organized what to keep and getting rid of everything else.
Hi, I’m new to this blogging world, but I thought I’d weigh in and offer my book which was published recently called “Your Spacious Self: Clear Your Clutter and Discover Who You Are”. Ten years in the making (the amount of time it took for me to process my own slippery relationship with clutter, and discover why most well-intentioned clearing practices don’t last), this award-winning book shows that clearing does not have to be “monumental task.” It’s not the stuff, but our “holding on” to it that should be our focus. This book offers a unique “go slow to go fast” model of clearing: it teaches that clearing one thing mindfully, or “putting away every day” (even just one paper clip) promotes well being and lasting change. You can learn more about the book (read excerpts, testimonials, etc.) and about me by visiting to my Web site: http://www.spaceclear.com/. I hope this helps. Happy clearing! Stephanie Bennett Vogt