simply difficult

why is it that when i think about simplifying my life, i think about thinning out my wardrobe? i have too many dishes, too many pots & pans, too many towels, way way way too many pieces of paper in files in boxes in the basement, and what do i think i should get rid of? clothing. somehow the clothing seems to be both necessary and extraneous at the same time. necessary enough that if i get rid of it, that would be a sacrifice, but extraneous enough so that it wouldn't really hurt.

my old man would say i have too many books. i disagree, of course, because i love books. even those i have already read & will not read again, i love. i probably have too many necklaces, which is an odd thing to feel like i have too many of. i would actually prefer to have one that i wear all the time - like that one with the colored beads that fell apart - rather than a different something for every different outfit. which, of course, brings us back to the too many clothes issue.

there is no question i have too many pots & pans, especially considering the amount of cooking i do, but you remember what happened the last time i got rid of cookware, don't you? that's right - i got rid of that big pizza pan and could have used it twice recently, so that just goes to show you. i have too many dishes, too. we could just use the hadley, but it is so heavy. or, we could use the china all the time, but sheesh, that's a lot of hand washing. oh, wait... we already hand wash, don't we? hee hee. we could discard the mismatched cups & bowls & plates & forks & spoons & knives, and we could instead use the matching sets of dishes & glasses and the stainless that's in the box right now. yeah, we could, but then - i wouldn't have my favorite pop tart plate or my favorite cereal spoon or my favorite jelly knife.

simplifying is more difficult than it would seem. clutter makes me nervous, but i remain surrounded by it. i like this picture of a cluttered desk, b/c it makes me think of elvis, though i don't know why.