“Wait
a minute! Did I hear you right?” you might ask. “A pirate? Someone who
‘collects’ and (ahem) not ‘nicely?’”
Aye
aye, Matey!
One of
my favorite TV series is Monk about a troubled obsessive-compulsive
detective with more phobias than anyone (other than himself) can count.
In one
episode, Monk won’t cross a street where a faulty light refuses to turn green,
even though his assistant tries to persuade him it’s fine. She goes on ahead,
then along comes a “seasoned” citizen who talks Adrian Monk into crossing on the
stuck red. How does she do that? By telling him, “Be a pirate! It’s fun to be a
pirate.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2iHbDQ0kTo
(00:34)
As
strange as that suggestion was, it worked. Mr. Monk crosses and becomes friends
with the lady who from time to time reminds him he’s a pirate!
When I
was diagnosed with progressive lung disease, fears surfaced in me, making it
hard to do what I previously wouldn’t’ve thought twice about. Simple things
like going on errands.
Hubby
was my steady, and he picked up on the Monk phrase. So, when I panicked, Brian said,
“You can do it. Be a pirate!”
I’d
smile at that familiar reminder, knowing exactly what it meant, and oddly
enough thought about accomplishing the task. Arrr!
For sake of this blog post and my love of Monk…
…Reader. be a pirate! Hoist your Jolly Roger! Skull and cross
bones! (Hmm. Maybe not so odd when death cleaning after all.)
If
you’re over 80, seriously consider death cleaning. It’s more than time!
If you’re over 70, consider doing it very soon. You’re not promised tomorrow.
Think:
What are my excuses? Are they legit? Do I need to hire/borrow help? Would I
rather decide about my things than have someone else choose for me?
Matey,
whether you’re death cleaning, down-sizing, or decluttering matters not. What does
matter is, if you need to, do it! This will also make living easier
while you wait your time to “sail” into eternity—less maintenance.
In
thinking what might make life simpler for us, this came to mind: Things we’re
keeping seem to take less space placed vertically. So, we purchased 4
matching bookcases and placed them along 1 wall. They fit nicely in our home
now and will likely fit in an apartment as well. We put not only books on them
but also our treasures—ones we’ll pass on later but still enjoy now.
I kept
books I read 50+ years ago. To make room for everything gathered from around
the house, I needed to weed those down. If I only read this once in 50
years, I won’t be here to read it again; so I reread those and passed on
about 80%. This made room for some newer reads, music books, photo albums,
this-n-that—all vertical and easier to clean. No more stacked baskets, collectables,
etc. on furniture tops or on the floor in multiple rooms!
Brian
weeded down his study books. What a pirate! We also eliminated some DVDs
and CDs. No, they don’t take up much room, but others can enjoy them.
The furniture
we replaced to help with easier maintenance has enclosed bottoms. That may not
seem a big deal, but this pirate preferred things that didn’t need to be
mopped under when “swabbing the deck.” And all our other furniture is on
sliders.
One
more thing we did was purchase clear, glass-like-in-appearance acrylic
containers (purchased at a dollar store). These hold all our dresser-top, side
table, and counter top small items. Now when I dust, I only move one container
from, say, my dresser top to clean it rather than a bunch of bottles, this-n-that,
etc. It’s been a big help on days my lungs complain and lifting anything
challenges—also with those arthritic joints. I wondered if this change might
look unattractive, but they’re pretty nice.
I have
a dear friend who adores dishes and has filled every possible shelf and cabinet
with them. “I just can’t get rid of them!” she declares. Okay, for her it’s
hard, but I confess this is an easy one for me. Advice from The Art of
Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter suggests
keeping only enough dishes for as many people as your table will seat.
That
might be hard if you have many people over for a meal. You’ll be the judge of
how many dishes you should keep. In recent years, though, I’ve found more often
than not we’ve resorted to using disposables for large groups.
None
of the dishes we kept have sentimental value. They’ve not been passed down over
generations, received as wedding gifts, etc., so our children needn’t worry
about boxing them for the thrift store. Same with our drinking glasses—a
handful of inexpensive ones. As for mugs, we gave away all but 6 so we have
just enough but not too many.
In the
book mentioned above the author delves into how to deal with photographs. I
went through ours years ago, but I’m doing it again. I’ve thrown away 100+ so
far—ones that aren’t necessarily important to me or to our family: ones there
are 4 or 5 of, six similar photos of Mom with college friends where they’re smaller
than my pinky nail (who are they I’ll never know), the fuzzy out-of-focuses, and
ones of kids I babysat since my high school years (didn’t have the heart to
trash most of those). All the ones our kids won’t have a clue about author
Margareta Magnusson suggests putting aside so you can still enjoy them,
but mark the bag, box, or binder with “OK to discard!”
Now,
don’t pirates have treasure chests? This pirate does! In mine I’ve placed
tatted items I made for each of my grandchildren, children, sister, and
husband. I plan to write a letter to share my heart with them also. There’s
something special set aside for hubby, but I can’t tell you. Shh! That’s
my secret, but it just might be pirate-related. Arrr!
Here’s
one more guideline before I close this Part 3: If you haven’t used an item in 5
years (I’m being very generous here) and it’s not one you’ll pass on to
someone special or that essential wrench you need when your sink leaks,
let it go. That may be very, very hard, but…
Be a
pirate! It’s fun to be a pirate.
This World Is Not My Home
This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing
through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond
the blue;
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open
door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world
anymore.
Chorus: O Lord, you know I have no friend
like you,
If heaven’s not my home, then Lord what
will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open
door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world
anymore.
They’re all expecting me, and that’s one
thing I know,
My Savior pardoned me and now I onward go;
I know He’ll take me thro’ tho’ I am weak
and poor,
And I can’t feel at home in this world
anymore. (Chorus)
I have a loving Savior up in glory-land,
I don’t expect to stop until I with Him
stand,
He’s waiting now for me in heaven’s open
door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world
anymore. (Chorus)
Just up in glory-land we’ll live
eternally,
The saints on every hand are shouting
victory,
Their songs of sweetest praise drift back
from heaven’s shore,
And I can’t feel at home in this world
anymore. (Chorus)
(from This World Is Not My Home by
Albert E. Brumley, 1937, public domain)
#deathcleaning #maintainingahome #MonkTVshow
#beapirate #makingharddecisions
#downsizing #books #dishes&mugs #photographs
P.S.~If you’re into all the national days
of this-or-that, you might like knowing September 19th
is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Oh, it’s also my
birthday! “How old ARRR you now?” Haha!
Photo
Credit: freepik.com