The Legacy

My Clutter Buddy reminded me of something today. The Legacy of Clutter. Waaaay back when I was first expecting DD1, that's 1999, I vowed to conquer my clutter problem. I received a clutter legacy, and knew the pain and did not want to pass that on. Well, best intentions and all that, but it's almost 2007 and my house still has clutter.

The Legacy of Clutter isn't just a tendency toward messiness. It's an inability to let things go, a failure to understand that things are just that: things. They don't have emotions (I have deep memories of buying things because I "felt sorry for them"). They don't equal emotions--that pair of socks is not my mother's love for me. But try telling yourself that if you're a hoarder! It's not easy to change ingrained patterns of belief and behaviour. I struggle every day with this.

So what do I want for the kids? I want to give them a clutter-free house, the ability to let things go without regret, and the knowledge that they are enough.