Blog Questions

A question not a comment...do you find writing about yourself makes profound life changes or does it just document where you have been? Can we get a before and after picture? How many pound of "stuff" have you lost? Will we really notice any difference in your abode upon our next visit?
Inquisitively yours,
An Inquiring Mind

A very nice blog follower asked the above questions. Good questions. Let me see if I can answer them.
Does writing this blog make profound life changes or does it just document?
Well, I don’t know if you would call them profound life changes, but I have uncovered a lot about myself and about my family while purging stuff. I have realized the freedom of not having so much stuff. I have given more thought to purchases I have made since beginning the blog and I don’t think I have brought home anything from a garage sale or an estate sale, either. That may not sound like much, but for me it is pretty close to a profound life change. As for the documenting part of the question - I like documenting, I like lists. In Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" he lists things soldiers in Vietnam carried and it made a powerful story.
Does it just document where you have been?
It does document where I have been. Going through my mother’s saved recipes gave me a glimpse into her life I hadn’t previously known and I got a bit of an insight into myself as well. Cleaning out my children’s toy closet brought back great memories of their childhood. Actually everything I have cleaned has brought back memories. Some of the items I have elected to keep because of those memories, some of the items I have given away, because the memory was no longer significant or I didn’t need the 'thing' to recall the memory. And writing about my grandmothers’ stuff has been a lesson in my history and the history of my family.
Some of the things I have purged have been a lesson in letting go of the past and moving on. Turning Daughter #2’s room into an office/guest room helped me to accept her as an adult, living in her own home. Having a home office gives me a space to pursue new interests, a place to begin the next stage of my life.
Can we get a before and after picture?
I guess you will just have to trust the blog and draw those pictures for yourself.
Will we really notice any difference in your abode upon our next visit?
I doubt you will notice. I think I have always done a credible job of keeping my crap hidden. If you would like a tour of my closets, cabinets and drawers feel free to ask. Just don’t expect to see the inside of the garage yet!