Digging Through Debris: a new year's resolution of sorts

I'm seeing scores of Facebook posts and Tweets proclaiming to the world shiny and hopeful New Year's resolutions. Decrees of "I will lose 30 pounds!" or "I will write a blog post every day!" or "I will clear out all my K-cups of coffee I don't drink and keep only those that I do!" (not kidding, I saw this last one posted on Facebook, though it may have been a bit more tongue-in-cheek.)

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. Mostly because those that I have made in the past I failed miserably to follow through on. However, I also think there's something to be said for having a definitive starting point and a clean slate before you. A corner to turn and thus obscure from view all previous resolutionary short-comings.

Yes, there's a chair underneath all that.

However, I'm also struggling to make any goal beyond clearing away the pile of laundry that's been stacked in my bedroom for the past month. Which, in an effort at only momentary procrastination (instead of sustained procrastination that could last for yet another month), I'm going to go On-Record with a resolution.

My 2014 New Year's resolution: Clear The Excess

I'm finding that clutter is my #1 frustration in my life. And, by clutter, I mean the superfluous. Pens that don't work next to the phone, so when racing to write something down it takes 4 tries to find one that will cooperate. Shoes I no longer wear. Toys the kids no longer play with. Clothes that no longer fit and I haven't worn since bearing my first child. Lit mags I say I'll read but know I never will. I find myself, like with the laundry pile, living by digging through debris. And that's too exhausting a practice to sustain. It's gotta end.

This also extends to my daily schedule. Cutting out the running around and schedule bogger-downers that I don't need. I'm finding too many piles of excess that I don't need, or that I need to stream-line, in order to regain some sanity. My "Need To Get To" pile needs to be gotten too. Grading the papers that are stacked at my elbow on my desk. Pulling up my manuscript of my novel-in-progress instead of posting another clever meme on Facebook. Stopping whatever "pressing pile" it is I'm working on so I can read a book with my kids at bedtime. Putting my phone down and engaging with the people around me. The excess needs siphoned out so I can get at the things that are truly important.

The excess must go. And I'm gonna start with this pile of laundry. So wish me luck. I'm going in.