Treading Water

That's what I've been doing this week: treading water. Not swimming, but not drowning either. What I mean is that I haven't added to my clutter, and I have managed to reduce my clutter just a little. Ok, so maybe I'm dog paddling.

I got rid of some clothes that had been sitting in my car for months, dropping them off at Community Thrift Store. That's a nice $200 deduction for next year's tax return.

I threw out some trash and recycled two large bags of styrofoam packing peanuts. That felt good.

I've made a habit of dealing with each day's mail as it arrives, rather than letting it stack up. This is easy and makes me feel good every time I do it.

I've also made a habit of removing things from my car each time I got out of it. This brings to mind something a friend did when I bought my first car back in 1990. I had it full of paper and trash within a few months of owning it. Whenever he rode with me, he made a point of grabbing something off the floor and asking, "Is this trash?" I almost always said, "Yes," and when I did he would take that item with him and throw it into the nearest receptacle. It only took me 19 years to figure out what he was trying to tell me.