I Have a Challenge For You

I am a world-class procrastinator, particularly when it comes to those little “annoyances” you find yourself just living with month after month, year after year in your own home. You know the stuff: that corner that you keep piling on or the cabinet you shove things into and quickly close the door to on a hope and a prayer.

The last month or so, I’ve been on a bit of a mission to clean up my act. Tackle one or two small areas in my home to feel better about. And I have to tell you, it’s been AWESOME. Saying to yourself “I’m going to purge and organize this whole place” is the kind of thing that would make me run under my covers, never to see the light of day again. That’s just not how I work. I like clean and tidy and an “everything in its place” life, but liking something and actually being able to achieve that thing doesn’t always collide in the way you want it to.

But this weekend, I finally tackled something that has been haunting me for—count ’em—three years. Nay, possibly three and a half. It was one of my greatest shames, and it wasn’t even located inside my house. It was…my car trunk. Let me explain further, because when I texted my sister on Sunday that I felt so immensely proud and accomplished for what I tackled, thinking she’d say something like “wow, that’s amazing! Good work!” I got a “wait…three years?!?” response. My normal life cheerleader, my confidant, even she judged me. RUDE.

So, here’s what happened: When Charles and I were moving from Florida to Los Angeles, we used a cross-country transport service for both of our cars since we decide to fly over here rather than make the days-long drive (we were on a short timeline). I had some random things leftover in my car and in and around the apartment that I ended up just throwing in the back rather than finding room in the PODS we had packed up. I’m talking several pairs of shoes, some art that came out of the frame once it broke, several bottles of water (for some reason), one of those blue tarp-like IKEA bags full of things from my desk like books, a stapler, some notebooks, an outdoor folding chair. I mean…it was a grab bag. The kinds of things you well, shove into the trunk of your car at the tail end of a very stressful, rushed move.

And…they’ve been there every since. Plus…anything else I threw back there in the course of three+ years. Listen, I am not proud. In fact, every week during grocery pick up, when the shopper or store associate came to place our bags in the car, I’d grunt a very embarrassed “eek, sorry about the trunk…just put the bags where you can.” There was also a graveyard of pine needles from the three Christmas trees we’ve hauled home back there.

Today, on the way back from our grocery pick up, I decided enough was enough. After weeks/months/years of swearing “today was the day” to clean it out (and Charles subsequently laughing at me with a sideways “yeah, we’ll see” comment that was very much deserved), today was in fact, the day. Perhaps I’m in full-on nesting mode already, but I was done with the excuses.

Upon putting away all the groceries, I grabbed a big 30-gallon trash bag, an empty cardboard box (for anything I wanted to keep) and my cordless vacuum with several attachments…I needed to be prepared for anything. As if my SUV’s junkyard trunk was enough of a secret shame, of course my downstairs neighbor came out just as I lifted the hatch. I mean…why wouldn’t that happen? Why wouldn’t he have to see my skeletons like that, hm? Such is life.

I won’t go into the details of all the things I uncovered back there, but here are some great things I did find:

• A beautiful white ceramic vase from CB2 or possibly West Elm from a photoshoot many moons ago (only slightly damaged…nothing super glue couldn’t fix)
• A clear acrylic tray I promptly used to organize some odds and ends on my kitchen counter
• Several very nice pens
• Two other small pieces of ceramic I had completely forgotten about that I used to keep on my desk when I worked at EHD (actually, one I swear I had never in my life seen but whatever)
• A very nice brass and navy stapler
• Three great hardcover children’s books I swore I was mailing to my young nephew that well…maybe I’ll keep now for my own baby because he’s probably outgrown them
• A pristine copy of Jane Eyre that, again, I swear I’ve never seen in my entire life
• The blue-light computer glasses I swore I lost about two years ago…(::face palm::)
• A small box of Christmas lights and ribbon and bows I remember buying for a Christmas gift guide shoot a while back

Yes…that was everything I found that was good…I filled an entire trash bag with what was not. I am a flawed human, okay? But MAN OH MAN did it feel good to clear that all out. All that’s left now is my neatly folded up beach blanket, one outdoor chair, a first aid kit, and a small clear plastic shoebox with some car necessities like jumper cables and such. A good vacuum cleared up all the sand and sad pine needles of Christmases past, et voila! I have my trunk back.

“Look, we have room for a stroller now!” I said all excitedly to Charles. He nodded. “Your trunk is next,” I kept talking. He did not nod at that.

All the rest of the day, I was fueled by my accomplishment. By the pure rush of adrenaline you get when you finally tackle something you’ve been avoided for far too long. I proceeded to clear out space in our linen closet (after purging a few weekends ago) for the great majority of Charles’ photography equipment that had taken over a large corner of the guest bedroom, and finally fixed the rod in my closet that held all my dresses which had come crashing down a week ago. Oh, and I purged items I hadn’t worn in ages, to boot.

I mean…WHO AM I?!? It’s hard to put into words how good this all feels, and I encourage all of you to try to do one, just ONE thing at home you’ve been avoiding. Cleaning out your underwear drawer? Yeah, you can do it! Going through your medicine cabinet to throw out everything that’s expired or you hate but hold on to just in case you “need” it (you’ll never need it)? DO IT! Find a spot on the wall for those frames that have been leaning up on the floor since the day you moved in? NOTHING CAN STOP YOU!

I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I’m determined to make my way through every closet, every drawer, every cabinet in the coming months. My laundry room and guest bedroom are the two most daunting spaces left, so maybe I’ll just take them little by little until they’re done.

I’ve got this. You’ve got this.

Also, why oh why didn’t I take any “before” photos of all this to show you alongside an after? Let’s see if I remember to when I take on my next project.

See you tomorrow, FOAS.