Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Ten-Minute break
Yes, maybe more like 20 minutes. Or 30.
For my five or so very dedicated readers who're wondering if maybe I got sick of drawing my meals before my class (yes), haven't been able to draw with my class (yes), too busy packing to paint (yes), finally healthy (not sure), fell off the edge of the earth (no) ...
Yes, I'm in the process of moving. I guess normal, responsible adults start weeks ahead of time and get things sorted, packed and labeled. Me, on the other hand ... Well, turns out that we decided we wanted to just take off for Spring Break, which skootched my move up by about a week. No, more like, two. So, I went, "Oh cr#p!, it all has to get done! In 10 days!" and finally started in on sorting my endless piles of stuff. Last weekend we moved all the stuff from my garage - no small feat. This weekend, we move the rest of the stuff, or the stuff that absolutely won't fit in my car. I have lots of stuff. I'm sorting through all sorts of stuff, throwing stuff out, have a boxes of books to donate to the local library, identifying the large appliances/furniture that I don't want to move to have the SalvArmy take away, and trying to be organized in boxing things up. Trying. Organized. Box. Ehhhh. The progress is slow, but finally detectable.
Is it just me that has a problem with this? I have stuff that I can't quite get to throwing out, but can't really use or display the way the thing is right now.
- Large-sized pads of newsprint with lifedrawing sketches. I can chuck most of it, but it'd be so cool to be able to frame the stuff I want to keep, put it up on a wall and enjoy it. What to do.
- Unfinished quilts that Grandma started. Very haphazard blocks and colors, but comforting when you know that it's pretty much like many of the other quilts Grandma made. When I finish it, there are just a few people, in the family that would appreciate its charm. Can't just chuck it, even though it'll be a while before I get to finishing it.
- Wedding pictures (to clarify: in an album, not framed and displayed) and my dress, stuff like that. So, if one doesn't have venomous feelings towards one's ex and you've remained actually very amiable, then what? The mementos remain a nice memory that's part of my life. It'd be pretty sad to just want to wipe out that whole chunk of life from my ongoing saga. Although, there are a whole lotta people that have stopped talking about any of that part of my life to me, which I think, in a way, is kind of superficial and cowardly in its unwillingness to at least test the waters.. "Let's just pretend all that didn't happen, because the breakup must have been unspeakably horrendous! We were all just left speechless! Better to just fast-forward and move on! So, when do we get the meet the new guy?!" What's wrong with people? Buh. Anyway, where was I? To be honest, getting back to the dress, I really liked the fabric that I used for it; a white-on-white rose print in 100% crisp cotton. Very pretty. I haven't found anything quite as nice since then, and you should know that at one time I was a pretty avid quilter, and was and am quite mindful about things like great fabric ... A friend added beading to the lace-covered bodice. I don't need to keep the dress, fer sure, but would like to be able to enjoy the fabric, in some way. An art quilt, a pillow, something. I dunno. Ideas, Jane, Dianne, Karen, Robin, Kim? Anyone?
Sigh. So, this stuff, I'll box up and label, put into storage, and get back to very slowly. It's been a really distillation process. In getting rid of more and more, the collection of things that remain are a very potent concentration of what I love, what gives me comfort, what I like to have around me.
The 'VisualDNA' badge, above, is just a cursory view of these things. The real nitty-gritty is what's getting saved and stashed boxes for the next chapter in life ...
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6 comments:
Ah, the ex.. Tough one. While some toss everything in the trash, others don't. What ever you want to do, I feel you have to consider the feelings of the new person in your life. What do they think and feel about it? What do you do if they feel differently than you do? There is no right answer here. .. Personally, I tossed it all away. The memories in my mind and heart cannot be erased.
- Anonymous at work.
As messy as I am, J is neat, and then some. He's sentimental, too, so it's not like I'll be chucking everything. I will have to learn to be tidy where I need to be, and he will have to learn to come to love and accept my messy work space... The ex? What's there to worry about him? J is perhaps the most accepting and understanding of how close G and I are still. Fortunately, that part isn't complicated.
I have slowly learned that the keeping of items usually turns out to be a waste of space and time. If an item can be honored by sharing it with others then by all means display it. Make a quilt, make a pillow, frame a picture. But if it is kept in a plastic bin for that rainy day... for me certainly not going to happen. Life moves on with new memories, new fabric, and certainly new pictures to share.
I wish you all the best in your new life. Good luck on the move.
... which is why the oversized trash bin gets delivered tomorrow. Wish I'd had it last week, for the stuff in the garage... I'll be spending some good quality time in the storage space, purging and clearing out things.
sigh.
I'm a 'thrower-outer.' It's pretty easy for me to purge stuff, and actually makes me feel good. We moved 3 years ago, and the down-sizing felt good. I don't even remember anything I threw out/donated. Having said that---I did save a box of letters from a boyfriend of 35 years ago. Reading them again, as an artist now, I turned them into two beautiful art pieces for exhibition....~Another idea, a friend whose husband was a bast___d, she buried her wedding dress with rusty things, and then unburied it and turned it into feminist art. Keep the wedding dress. After you've moved, maybe cut it into pieces and make some art with it....OR, on second thought, give it to a charity where a young girl can wear it to the prom..
When I clean out old things (not often enough) I'll take a picture of sentimental things and then toss them. That way I have the memory, but I don't need the stuff. (Such as old hooked pillows made by grandma that got dirty and musty, etc.)
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