Saturday, June 5, 2010

Clutter

I don't remember how long ago it was when I started getting fed up with the world. TV sickened me, I had trouble finding good books (and I'm a bookworm), even shopping became a dreaded chore. Forget movies! I stopped going years ago. Stopped renting them, too.

When I take a good long look around me I am horrified at what I am realizing. The picture has only grown clearer as days go by. How much of what the world says I need do I really need? I'm beginning to understand that the answer is ...very little. Many things just seem to clutter up my life. I barely ever use my microwave (despite my lack of cooking skills I prefer to use the stove), I can wash and dry my dishes by hand more quickly than when I use a dishwasher (because I have a small family), my cell phone is barely ever used, I rarely use my alarm clock, I never use the DVD player unless I put something on for my daughter, I watch TV once in a blue moon, I had an electric can opener but still used the hand one...the list goes on and on.

When I was a teenager I resented the times I lived in. "Are you sure I wasn't supposed to be born 100 years ago, Lord?" (At least I'd ask this when we were on speaking terms.) It really, really, irked me. I got mad every time I felt that I had to try to "fit in" to be accepted. I should have known better. I wish I had understood that I never had to "fit in" and that being true to myself would have made my life much less complicated. You can't change the past though and at least it teaches us good lessons.

I may not be able to change the world now, either, but I can change myself with God's grace. I have been trying to simplify my life for a while and am curious to see where this will lead. One last thing:

Who invented the torturous devices that pass for women's bras these days?

I just had to throw that in :)  Tell me it's not true!

6 comments:

  1. I have come to believe that clutter of any kind is one of Satan's subtle (or not so subtle) distractions. When I moved into this apartment, I never bought a microwave and I don't miss it. I could go on as well but won't. Don't even get me started on the bra thing... :(

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  2. Yeah, clutter and bras were probably both his ideas. One makes us have a fit and the other never fits.

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  3. While I can't help you with that last question, I do agree with you about the clutter. And I think Karinann is onto something there about distractions.

    God Bless.

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  4. Michael,
    Karin's comment does make a lot of sense!

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  5. One of the things I was taught by the nuns and priests when I was growing up was that the saints practiced "detachment" from things, from people, even, in the sense that our true attachment is to God. As I have coped with my health conditions, I have been asking myself how much of what I have am I attached to. I have stuff I won't ever use again. This past lent I got rid of some of it. More and more I see myself in a small room with my Bible, the Divine Office, my rosary and prayer books. What else do I really need but God?

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  6. Barb,
    I'm ready to chuck stuff too! Not my computer though (lol).

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