Tuesday, December 13, 2011

A Place for Everything


Let's discuss the idea of everything having a place and therefore everything should be in its place.

Is this sounding like some sort of causality dilemma, much akin to that of the chicken or egg?


I'm looking at several 'orgainizing' sites and the pictures are so pretty. Its the kind of pretty where you move closer and stroke the monitor to be nearer the orderly shiny prettiness of it all - tears welling up in your eyes. The possibility of being surrounded by such neatness bordering on orgasmic.

The home that looks like a magazine spread, it CAN be yours!

As
long
as
everything
is
in
its
place.


What the organizing bloggy folk don't tell you is where the hell that place is!

I don't have enough place for all my stuff! I have stuff upon stuff, much of it paper stuff! The tree carnage in my house is horrifying - all those poor dead trees...stop the insanity!

Where are the signs that say, "Put X stuff here"? Is there a secret society I need to join to get the answers to where everything goes? Is there some Big Brother organization that can satellite zoom into my house and create a code map of all my stuff and where that stuff is supposed to reside, along with labels (and perhaps a picture for those of us that are a bit slower on the uptake)? If so, then I want in! I'll do whatever it takes! Oh, and I will try not to blog nekkid anymore, my apologies to the folks who monitor that satellite feed.

Part of me secretly hopes this is all some sort of Matrixy reality where I'm actually laying in a pool of goo and images are being fed to me through wires and tubes.

And if that is the case, then...really? The Powers That Be couldn't have given me the Pottery Barn program, they had to give me the Trailer Park version instead. Did I piss them off in a past life? And, if this is some Matrix existence, is it even possible to have a past life? Are there even Chickens and Eggs in the Matrix?

Whoever is in control of my reality, please fix it and somebody please show me where the place is for my everything so that everything can be in its place!

Do you sit and stare dreamily at organizing sites?
And then do you look around your own house and burst into tears?
Yeah, me either....um....
Spread the link love and let me know your favorite 
"Everything it its place..." sites.


p.s.
Today's post brought to you via 1 cup of coffee.

p.p.s.
Of which contained a giant Bailey's Failed Marshmallow.

p.p.p.s.
And stop shaking your head and whispering, "That explains a lot", because I can hear you!!!

p.p.p.p.s.
{not really}

p.p.p.p.p.s.
And no, I'm not going to discuss the failed marshmallow attempt. It's too painful.


12 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:50 AM

    One word: Fijitsu-ScanSnap-S1500 (hyphenation DOES too count).

    ReplyDelete
  2. I avoid those sites like a plague - they convince me I need the perfect basket for my keys, or the right cake pan holder for my cupboard. And guess what? I just end up accumulating more stuff!

    Bailey's in anything can never be a failed attempt...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:00 AM

    I think the Matrix people crossed two of our wires, because how else are we living the exact same life?

    I also have that feeling when I look at gardening/landscaping books, websites, other people's yards...

    Now I need Baileys.

    A.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love looking and dreaming.
    And then I realize I have no money.
    And so then I drink Bailey's knock-off.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Megan - I'm not sure I know what you mean. You want I should send you a pic of nekkid blogging? :-)

    Everyone Else - I wish I were not addicted to looking at all the pretty organizedness of it all. Perhaps I can just get close, some day...after I win the lottery. For now, I'm going to buy more Bailey's (off brand, because Laine said it was ok).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11:33 AM

    My fujitsu scanner probably single-handedly saved an entire amazon forest.

    I too had a big issue with paper in my household. Now I scan everything I want to keep, and take digital pictures of things I cannot scan.

    Please DO NOT send a picture of you nekkid. I'm having enough trouble controlling myself as it is :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Organization sites are fake and stagged. 'Nuff said. Flylady said so, and she's like Martha in that department. Andddd you're supposed to be sending ME your Bailey's. *headoven*

    ReplyDelete
  8. Emily - I don't agree that they are fake and staged, but I do doubt their homes look like the pictures all the time. I'm really talking about the bloggers who do a lot of their own crafty DIY projects and try the best they can to stay organized. Some amazingly so. Of course, the internet is a the perfect place for a little creative license in how much work it actually is to maintain...but still, I look and I admire and I want!

    Megan - Ah..yes, scan and save. Much better than stock piling the paper!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm one of those ridiculously organized people (*hanging head in shame*). Clutter makes me itchy, and piles of stuff make me grouchy, so every six months or so I do a huge purge of everything we don't use/don't like/don't want/don't have room for. My husband is the total opposite of me in this regard. Which is actually solid support for the "love conquers all" argument. The fact that I haven't taken a blowtorch to his piles of stuff and unfinished projects (or that he hasn't maliciously rearranged my bookcase) speaks VOLUMES for the strength of our commitment.

    Also? Baileys is never a failure. Never, ever. (And I tend to avoid organizing sites or organizing stores. They make me want to buy things. Though littlemrsorganized.wordpress.com is extra awesome!)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Desi - you can come here any time you like and organize me!!! I love the organizing sites that are also 'green',where they recycle objects to help with clutter. I have no creativity for that stuff, but I love to get ideas from them. There are a couple of sites I've been looking at htat take the frugal/reduce-reuse path...me like that!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've e-mailed the link to this post to Acr0nym because he loves loves LOVES those organizing sites and, as you may recall, he's in the midst of his own de-cluttering and organizing project. One website I know he adores is http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/

    Hopefully (I did say please), he'll come along and give you some others.

    He's also supposed to tell you I sent him. We'll see what he does :).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Heh, it's true, Just Jane sent me!

    One of my favorite sites on this topic is "Unclutterer", http://unclutterer.com/

    She does a mix of tool suggestions, and general tips, and it's a mix I quite like.

    Lifehacker frequently covers this topic, at http://www.lifehacker.com

    Zen Habits also discusses general simplification, and often discusses specific tools and methods for controlling clutter http://zenhabits.net/

    Realistically, I, too, am trying to stay away from sites that sell organization products, like the Container Store, and Organized Living. I've realized that one of my big problems is that I frequently consider "boxed" to be "organized" which, for me, is actually rarely true. A big part of Jane's help for me is helping me determine actual categories, and work through boxes all labeled "Misc." or "ETC", and figure out the actual right places for things to go.

    ReplyDelete