Spring is Here! With a Sunny New Beginning

"If you don't complete the mundane tasks in life, you probably aren't completing the bigger ones either."

-- Regina Leeds

in the Introduction to "One Year to an Organized Life"



"Your home is not your castle; it's your prison. Guilt is your frequent companion. You want your life experience to be bigger, richer, but it seems to be forever diminished by an endless series of dramas, all of which have a lack of organization as their source." *

As I read these words I felt as though Regina Leeds had somehow been able to peer into my life and I knew she was spot-on. Every New Year's for as long as I can remember I have had two primary resolutions: lose weight and become organized. In truth, some lucky years I have had the wonderful experience of feeling slender enough to be satisfied but, unfortunately, that sense of satisfaction has never carried over to my organizational skills.

In childhood I received mixed messages regarding such skills from two very differing parents. What I do remember is my level of discomfort and anxiety as well as low self esteem which developed in part because of the disorganized and untidy environment of our home. Mind you, my parents worked hard and lovingly raised five children, so I will cut them some slack.

What I have never been able to fully understand, however, is exactly how my four siblings (3 sisters and 1 brother) have turned out to be outstandingly neat, tidy, and extremely organized adults whereas, sadly, I have not.

Mind you, I neither live in squalor or complete chaos, nor do I yearn for the perfection of a 'magazine home'. I think I'm probably a pretty run-of-the-mill disorganized person. Some areas I tend to manage better than others. And I have to say that over the past year I have made considerable improvements in my home and I'm very happy with this (long awaited) progress.

However, it seemed to me that I was still standing outside and looking in at others who appear to effortlessly achieve a state of organization that seemed absolutely out of reach for me. What was wrong with me? What was I lacking? I had a sinking feeling that these admirable others had secretly been given a secret manual and I had not.

And then one day last fall I happened to read a review of Regina Leed's book, "One Year to an Organized Life". The review was very glowing indeed and it certainly piqued my interest. Now, I have read quite a few books on organizing in the past but little had ever changed. It was a bit like reading diet books and expecting to lose weight because of it. (Trust me, that doesn't work either.) I really felt that this sort of format -- breaking everything down into monthly topics and breaking every month's topic down into weekly tasks -- would be very practical, challenging, and kind of fun to follow. I went straight to my laptop, Googled 'Amazon', and ordered the book.

I had intended to begin January 1st but as you can see, that didn't happen. What with one thing and another this project just got stuffed into the back of the closet like so many other well-intentioned projects before it. But last month I suddenly remembered the book and felt really compelled to actually follow it. It felt SO important to me. But how on earth would I be able to follow through? Well, I had just recently re-watched "Julie and Julia" which I found very inspiring, and the thought suddenly struck me to go through the book and write a blog about my progress. It was a very exciting thought!

But since I was planning to write a blog based on "One Year to an Organized Life", I felt it was only right to write to the author, Regina Leeds, and ask her permission. I can't tell you how surprised, delighted, and thrilled I felt when I received her very positive and encouraging response. She even went so far as to suggest that perhaps from time to time she could comment or make suggestions if I were having difficulty and in that way, no doubt many readers could be helped through similar problems. Wonderful!

As Regina says, "The chaos around you is an effect...Over the course of the next year, we are going to set new causes into motion -- the kind that yield positive results. Instead of living in an environment that is your adversary, you will live in a space that nurtures and supports you at every step of your journey."

And as Confucius said so long ago and far away, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." I hope you will join me on my journey as I learn how to create an organized life with the help of Regina Leeds. As I write these words, I am deliberately and determinedly taking the first step.


Cheers!

Diane



* All quotations in this posting were from the "Introduction" to "One Year to an Organized Life" by Regina Leeds (Lifelong Books: www.dacapopress.com)