You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged or sent out a tip newsletter for the past several weeks. It’s not because I have given up on building this blog or my website. I haven’t. Sometimes life takes an unexpected detour and it takes time to adjust.
I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow. After that I will have a round of chemotherapy followed by radiation. I’m telling you this because the next 9-10 months of my life will be in upheaval. The doctor calls it a temporary inconvenience. The last time I had a 9 month temporary inconvenience was when I was pregnant with my youngest son. He turns 23 in August. That “inconvenience” had a good end result. With some luck, at the end of this one I will have a clean bill of health and a rebirth of my spirit.
I plan on continuing this blog and my newsletters during this time. I cannot promise that the “Decluttering Tip Newsletter” will come out weekly or the “Organize By The Month News” will be out by the first of the month, but I will do my best. I also plan on writing articles for my website plus e-books on different areas of decluttering and organization.
I have spent the last 25 years reading, researching, and practicing many ideas and systems to keep control of the clutter. It doesn’t come natural for me so it is an ongoing process. It started when I found a book in the store called; “Sidetracked Home Executives” by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. I was a new mother and full time employee back in the early eighties and chaos was beginning to take over my home. Their system helped me keep some control over the growing clutter that came with a growing family. The one downside to their system is that I didn’t have a built in buddy like they did. My sisters, mother, mother-in-law, and most friends were either born organized or didn’t want to admit they had a problem. I had to go it alone.
Six years ago I found Flylady and a whole world of SHE’s. I wasn’t alone anymore! With lots of new friends (flybabies), both locally and online, I found the support needed to motivate me to dig even deeper to release the “hard to let go of” clutter. With most of the clutter gone I have been able to pursue my passion of writing and share my knowledge and experience with others.
Since my home is in good shape (not perfect) it has been a lot easier to keep it under control as I deal with the emotional part of my health crisis. However, with this new detour in my life I am finding a new perspective on what is clutter. Many things I thought were important to keep don’t seem so important right now. At the end of my newsletters I sign off with the statement; “To a lighter load along the way.” That has taken on a even deeper meaning. Life is precious, very few “things” are.
If you have read this far, I thank you. This blog will continue to focus on decluttering and organizing. So will my newsletters, articles, and e-books. I will be creating a new blog that will be a diary of my journey through breast cancer treatment. I will let you know when that is started for anyone who might be interested.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice Scissors
Good luck with your treatment!
Heather,
Thanks! The surgery went well so step one is done. I’ll find out about the next step in a couple of weeks.
Janice Scissors