The Sweet Sound of Thud (with intro by Emily)

Today, we had plans. We were going to go out and take advantage of sales and coupons, but then the flash flood warning came. (Aside from the fact that I slept in...) So instead it was a day of unpacking and cleaning out. We had eleven bags of clothes and shoes to put in the Housing Works bin in the laundry room. I was a MAJOR help ( :P ), so I got to introduce the blog today. Yay!!! Soooooo, without further ado...THE BLOG!!! *Duh duh duh DUH!!!*

I used to think that the ding of a new email on my phone was the most exciting sound ever. After all, the ding could mean a job offer or an invitation to coffee or a coupon to my favorite store. Today, I discovered a new most exciting sound. As you read in my guest blogger's intro above, we dropped (to be fair, she did the dropping) eleven bags of clothes and shoes into the collection bin in our building. It has a trap flap of sorts--once the stuff's in, it's in, and it falls with a giant thud against either the bottom of the bin or against bags that other people have brought. There's no getting it back, unless you're planning to to climb in after it, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory style.

As my daughter dropped the bags in, thud, thud, thud, I thought about the items from my own closet that were in those bags. It's one thing to put in outgrown kid's clothes--the choice is simple if no one can wear the items anymore. Watching my own clothes disappear, I gasped, ever so briefly, and then was overcome with the euphoric thought that the weight of those bags was being lifted from my shoulders with every thud. After all, giving away some of your things is not just about helping others. It's about giving away enough of your past self to have the room to embrace your new and future self.

Many years ago, I heard a clutter consultant speak about needing to free yourself of clutter, literal and mental, before you could really accomplish the things you wanted. Today, in some small, plastic bag, thud, thud, thud way, my guest blogger and I got rid of a little clutter. And, because of that, we're a little closer to embracing whatever challenge--and whatever sweet sound--tomorrow brings. Whether it's the ding of an email, the ring of a new school bell, or just a little more thud, thud, thud.