Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  Crap is other people's stuff which the speaker
AH>  doesn't have any immediate use for....  :-))

JB>  I was co-addicted to auctions back in the day.
JB>  I'm finding a lot of crap.


           In my experience a lot of "junque" (stuff which is too
good to throw out, but which I don't quite know what to do with) is easier
to discard after a period of time has elapsed.  Things got away on me when
Nora required intensive parenting.  I guess things got away on you when a
rough patch in your life made it imperative to find a reason to get out of
bed.  I won't say "in the morning" because I know you're a
musician, and I'm a night person too!  We both did what we had to do back
then... but now we're left with another daunting task.

           Years ago we had folks in this echo with a wide variety of
problems, many of whom participated in various "recovery" echoes.
 I read these echoes in order to gain understanding of where they were
coming from & saw that they were on more or less the same path as
Bernie Siegel's "Exceptional Cancer Patients". Whether it's
mental/emotional baggage, or an overabundance of physical objects, you
didn't accumulate it overnight & you're doing whatever you can one day
at a time.  Breaking tasks into smaller segments does seem to help.  The
experts say we should focus on a single room before tackling the next, but
I've yet to hear from one who takes into account (for example) our need to
store OT/PT equipment where Nora & her therapists can easily get at it.
 Maybe a square foot of space at a time is more realistic as long as *you*
can see you've made some progress.

           A week or so ago I saw an article about an expert I might be
able to get along with, anyway.  He induced the reporter to tidy stacks of
papers which she keeps on the floor between her own desk & that of a
photographer.  (She has no filing cabinet & she uses a chronological
method of sorting.  I can relate!) Unlike many such people, this fellow
didn't pressure her to throw out anything. After devoting a whole afternoon
to the project she commented "The photographer didn't notice."  I
reckon it doesn't matter to him either way.  She may be more appreciative
of that when some time has gone by & she has slipped back into her old
habits.  But the thing is, you have to do it for yourself.  And if you have
other priorities from time to time... I've never heard anybody say at a
funeral that they'd cheerfully eat off the floor at So-and-So's house or
that the place was so neat & tidy they were afraid to touch anything. 
IMHO they will remember that you always had time for the neighbourhood
kids... that you shovelled their sidewalks when others didn't seem to
care... and that you made them laugh.  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+