Micromovements

c. flickr.com

I am not the tidiest of homemakers. In fact, I’m sure Adrian Monk would have one of his attacks if he ever entered my cluttered apartment. Funny story, one day the police came to my apartment [I'll save those details for another post]. At the sight of my crammed living room, the officer asked me if I did arts and crafts. No, I just can’t throw anything out.

It has only been recently that I have realized or been wiling to admit that the disorganized clutter stresses me out, & contributes to my general angst. So it’s time to take action. Will I ever be Nancy Neatnik? I’m afraid not. But I can take small steps to gradually organize.

The artist, writer & genius Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, aka, SARK speaks highly of what she calls micromovements. While you may not be able to completely tackle a major task, you are almost always capable of taking baby steps toward your goal, thus making larger steps easier.

“Micromovements,” she says,  “are tiny, tiny little steps you can take towards completions of your life. I'm a recovering procrastinator and perfectionist and I have a short attention span, so I invented Micromovements as a method of completing projects in time spans of 5 minutes or less. I always feel like I can handle almost anything for 5 minutes!”



Check out more about micromovements from SARK  .

So I spent the weekend doing itsy bitsy steps towards organization and serenity. The tedious, heartwrenching process of parting with cool posters, projects, outfits I loved that no longer fit, but held onto for sentimental value; or who knows, maybe someday purple parachute pants will come back. Even if they did, I wouldn't be able to fit into them.  


Granted I still have a long way to go, but I already feel 100 pounds lighter. The good thing about this is that often the completion of one step inspires another. I started out by cleaning off my desk; a bear of a project, that once I completed, I couldn’t very well have an untidy couch now could I?

I am finding firsthand that a decluttered living space leads to a decluttered mind.

c. 2011