motivation to begin...

You know what they say about goals - in order to reach them, it's important to know exactly why you're doing it. Because knowing clearly will help power you through the times where you want to give up, you want to move on to something else, or you simply get bored of it all.

So here is why I want to springcleanmylife.

I live in a house with six other people. And when I say house, I mean masionette. And when I mean masionette, I mean an executive flat. And when I mean six people, I mean two parents, a brother, two sisters, and a very very important-to-me househelper. And when I mention two sisters, I mean I live in the same room with them (Yes, three 20 something year old girls living in a small bedroom together). And whenever If I ever mention "the messys" it could refer to anyone of them...except my househelper who's possibly the ultimate cleaning machine.

Six people, all with different personalities, lives, stuff, living habits, and tolerance for mess.

We have occupied this house we currently live in for something like 11 or 12 years, and somewhere in between (though I'm pretty sure much earlier before that), we accumulated all this...stuff. And much of the time, most of this stuff is just...stuff left unutilized - except for the purposes of collecting dust bunnies...just in case any of us one day decides we need pets. (And trust me, dust bunnies are able to reproduce as fast as real bunnies.)

My point is, that I've had enough of the mess and it's time to clear out.

I don't know about you, but I'm not a person that can tolerate mess. My environment affects me in ways that I needn't explain more than "a messy environment could ruin my day". All this accumulation of stuff to me reflects reliance on things that cannot satisfy. It reflects poor stewardship of money and space and other resources. These things left lying around, like unresolved issues in the past, horde one's heart and mind space and energy - resources that are ever so precious in this increasingly demanding and hectic world.

Already so much is demanded from each one of us in the world outside. If my home itself cannot be a place of refuge from the outside, and in fact tears at me as well, where else can I go to?

Letters left unopened, documents lost amidst piles of work and other administrative papers, clothes left jumbled... all doing nothing for you except creating stress, wasting your time and money, and putting you in situations with hefty consequences - being late for important meetings, or even down to court proceedings for having "forgotten" to pay that bill. Goodness knows how much money has been drained out of my family on late fines alone. Mess has been a tyrant toward my family affairs. A situation that I can no longer tolerate.

I've seen the consequences of disorganization and mess on my parents, and I'm starting to see it manifested in the lives of my siblings - a situation that I fear them suffering under if this is not nipped quickly.

So this is my project - to clean out and clear out my home...

and save my family (and the possible generations to come) from the tyrannies of the disorganized life.

I'm interested in the results of these efforts though, and do intend to monitor how changing the environment to a more organized and efficent one could affect things like bills, utility usage, personal habits, personal life outlook, self-esteem, and even to weight (a struggle that I face when I'm at home). I forsee many interesting and happy family events to come as the home environment changes, and look forward to the celebrations.

And as I clear out, and as we celebrate, I hope that they will be anecdotes to encourage you to find your freedom too.