Riot and Frolic

My bestie asked me how I stay organized.  

Simple.  

I throw away a lot of crap.

There's a lot of crap to throw away.  There's some ridiculous stat out there about the amount of junk mail we get in a year, probably like a trillion pounds or something (okay, 41 pounds, according to this handy site).  There's all those clothes that went out of style (or, er, don't fit anymore).  The toys and clothes your kids outgrow.  And then there's all the stuff you buy.

Here's some tips on throwing away your crap:

• Become at peace with who you are not.  

I, for example, cannot take a pill every day to save my life.  I would die in about three days if required to take a pill each morning because I forget.  

So, these vitamins?  Mostly full.  Have been for… a year or so (note: prenatal, and I am very post-natal).  

I am at peace with my unsupplemented, slightly anemic lifestyle.  

I threw them away.  

• Get unsentimental.

If you think fondly of some object, but never use it, think on it lovingly for a second, then get unsentimental on its ass (the saying of the week) and throw it away.  

Like these socks, which I wore when I was in the hospital after bringing V into the world.  And then Mae Cake, and then the little Zoo.  Yes, these well-worn, baby-bringing foot clothes got chucked in the waste bin today.  

They have holes.  

I threw them away.  

• Take a picture.  

I had this huge collection of keychains that my friends, family and I had added to over the years.  They were all looped together and that jingly-jangly mess must have weighed 20 pounds.  It hung on a doorknob in my parents' house, then on a door in my bachlorette pad, but upon packing up stuff to move in with the G, I knew I had to lose it.  

I took a picture of that crazy collection, then put that crazy collection in a box of Goodwill donations.

I threw it away.  

• Think how much someone else might like it

Like those keychains.  Some lucky bastard might be trolling the Goodwill tomorrow and find that mass of kitsch and do a little dance of joy because they were planning on giving out keychains as party favors at their nerd themed party.  

Your trash is someone's gold or something like that.  

And people, I used to be a huge pack rat.  I kept toys from McDonald's, prizes from carnivals, ticket stubs, Clearly Canadian bottles, magazines, school notebooks… for yeeeeears.  

But you don't need it.  You are not your stuff.  

So, Bestie, my first step to getting organized is to not keep all the crap.  

Hey, Austen.