Reducing "Stuff"

We have a yard shed in the back corner of the lot.  It had been a while since I'd used it.  How long?  I don't know, but the evidence suggests several years.  First, both Pam and I had forgotten the combination to the lock.  Second, the paving stone path up the hill to the shed was hidden beneath a thick layer of leaves and soil, and the acubas had grown out to block the way.  I wanted to tidy up the garage some and move some little used gardening things to the shed, and I was looking for our lawn sprinkler, which also hadn't been used in several years.  I have a good pair of bolt cutters, so after trying several combinations that came to mind, I gave up and cut the lock.  The shed was empty except for a number of empty pots for plants.  No sprinkler.

I cleaned off the path, trimmed the shrubs, and began packing things from the garage.  The garage is quite a bit neater, the shed has been put to use, and I found the sprinkler on the garage floor, out of sight - partially beneath a weed eater that I had completely forgotten we had.  Yes, the last three years or so of working full time and being busy with yoga teacher training and then training, took my attention off a lot of things.  After a couple of hours, I have a neater garage and a refreshed mental map of the things we have there.

The sheer volume of "stuff" we have around the house is going to take a lot of effort to work through.  So far my efforts have been baby steps - like the stack of long unused clothing I'm going to drop off tonight on my way to teach yoga - but at least there is movement in the right direction.

How Things Work

Here's something I can't explain.  Why have Mindful Day blog posts dried up since I retired, even though I have a lot more time that I could write them?  I really don't have an answer, but I do have a post for today.

I've relearned the lesson that I do best with a day when I get started early on and get a thing or two done - even little things.  That seems to created momentum that I can carry on.  Other days I may get bogged down, or have a hard time even starting a project, and those days it's a struggle to be motivated.  Energy is wasted, not doing things, but mulling over what I most should be doing, and at that moment, probably don't feel like doing.

Today I felt that I couldn't put off another round of reunion planning any longer.  This chore, which I'd been putting off for weeks, took some time and effort, but wasn't hard in any objective way.  It helped me to get away from the computer.  I copied down info I needed to sort out lodging arrangements, and went out on the back deck to work.  In that enjoyable setting, the work went smoothly.  I sent off a few emails and made a list of some other things that need attention, and am happy to have made good progress.

After getting that project done - probably the one I was carrying the most resistance to - I then felt the energy to tackle another languishing project - mowing the yard with a mower than has begun running poorly.  I needed to get gasoline, and then realized that I hadn't yet installed the new spark plug I bought.  I took the cover off to clean out some debris, thinking the problem might be poor airflow, installed the new plug, and started the mower.  It still isn't running well, but worked well enough for me to finish the yard.  I then took the blade off and sharpened it - the last thing that I know how to do that might help it work better.  I enjoyed the physicality of turning a wrench, and the shower of sparks that flew from the mower blade as it was sharpened.  Simply doing some work, without much concern about the outcome.  It would be nice to find some magic and have the mower work well again, but more likely we'll be getting a new one soon.