Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Now that I no longer have a wedding to plan, I have time to get to some projects I've been putting off, such as reorganizing the basement.

Ever since we moved into this place a couple years ago, all of my papers and memorabilia, books, et cetera, were stacked in towers of boxes and crates. It had become kind of messy. Over time, the boxes and crates on the bottom had begun to bend and become distorted.

Also, it was a big pain to find anything. For example, when my mom wanted to read a poem at my wedding that she'd given me in high school, I had to move two entire stacks of boxes to look at the ones on the bottom and find the poem.

I'd bought shelves earlier this summer but then got distracted with last minute wedding prep. Now, I finally had time to do it; plus, we need to figure out where to put all the wedding presents, so making better use of space is a must.

First, I took everything upstairs into the living room. All of my stuff was lined against two walls in the foot of our L-shaped basement. I did one side at a time, carting the boxes upstairs to go through them.

I went through each box to make sure it contained what it was supposed to, and to weed out things I no longer wanted to keep, like ticket stubs for movies I'd seen. I also boxed up a number of household items, which I took to the consignment store yesterday to register them to sell.

The shelves went up easily enough, although it was a confined space so it was a little difficult. Of course, I soon discovered that not all the plastic tubs could fit on the shelves next to a Staples box. I'd determined that was the best use of the space, so I went to K-Mart and picked up a few smaller ones to replace them.

Here's a before and after look of one side of the storage area.

As I spent hours cross-legged on the floor, going through papers and memorabilia from throughout my life, I had plenty of time to reflect. One box contained nothing but letters, which I organized into gallon bags separated by years. This made me think about all the people still in my life and all of those who aren't.

Pulling out a report card from elementary school that commented on my natural ability for writing inspired me to make more of an effort in my writing career. So this was a good way to assess where I've been, where I am and where I'm going. I'm definitely on a positive track now; I can feel it.

There was a time, for example, when I had separated out all the photos from past relationships and shoved them at the bottom of boxes. I didn't want to get rid of them, since they were part of my past, but I couldn't bear to look at them. But now, all my photographs are arranged in boxes by year, and I'm fine with that. The different chapters of my life, I now know, are just part of the journey. They no longer cause me the same pain. I guess it helps to be in a place where I feel good, where I feel optimistic once more.

It felt good to file everything away in its proper order so that I can access it when I want to but also, maybe, make peace with it.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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