2023, the Year of Decluttering, Tech, and Strong Relationships

I stumbled through the past year listening to podcasts, watching Youtube videos, and reading self-help books in order to try to improve my relationships and my clutter problem. "Try" being the operative word. So, this year, I am announcing some self-improvement goals. Many of those goals involve the resolution to not do like in normal years and gain or hoard possessions This year instead I will also be more conscious of building relationships in addition to improving my technology use.

First, my decluttering-possessions goals this year:

I resolve to not purchase any more Christmas decorations at the after-Christmas clearance sales. Twelve bins sitting in the garage for eleven months of the year should be enough. I can keep myself out of the physical stores, but how to keep my husband away from the internet shopping? “Honey! Really? a Christmas bedspread? Oh, well no problem then, that’s okay--it was on sale online and looked so pretty. We definitely need it.” Sigh.

I resolve to get rid of and spend my hard-won penny collection. Pennies are so heavy in my purse that I can’t carry them around, so I’ve filled a big jar at home. I’ll bet there’s enough for a Starbucks venti-sized drink. Let’s count them… Yes! Maybe though I should not take my jar through the drive-through window in the busy coffee hours before work.

I resolve to not drive my Salvation Army boxes around with me for longer than a month any more. I am becoming good at filling boxes and bags for donation. The next step is to put the boxes and bags in my trunk…which expands, oozing out onto my back seat…and I drive around for days, for weeks. Doubts creep in about whether or not I really should get rid of the whatchamacallit I’ve had since college. The bins drive to work and back home with me for week after week. No more sightseeing trips together. This year, I will lessen my delayed decision-making.

I resolve to purge my email inbox of many of those 11,000+ emails. Hopefully that will also end the daily emails from Google telling me that my storage is full.  I will be saddened, though, for how else can I meander down memory lane and remember all the sports banquets, booster club requests, and what to bring to camp lists from the past decade and a half?

I resolve to eat the rest of the holiday junk food this week so I can start finally watching my weight. Plus, seriously--those goodies are piled up, just sitting around in holiday tins and plastic containers. I don’t want my kitchen to look like a hoarder’s kitchen, do I? So, it’s got to go. I did leave out those treats for the family to partake of too, but they are just not eating it fast enough. Wait—the goodies can be frozen you say? Nah—that will only clutter the freezer then.

Now for improving myself by the use of technology:

I resolve to learn to program the programable thermostat we’ve had for over ten years. I know I could sleep more comfortably if I have it programmed to be off all night and to turn back on half an hour before I get up. I’m pretty sure that’s why it’s on my wall. I’m still looking for the instruction manual in English. The Spanish manual has been right her in the drawer for ten years.

I resolve to learn to use Airbnb so my family can reserve a treehouse for a week’s get-away. Everybody wants to live in a treehouse, right? I hope there are ropes we can swing on. We can pretend we’re the Swiss Family Robinson and maybe the Airbnb owners have an ostrich or zebra we can ride too. Or at least pony rentals nearby.

I resolve to learn to use a Facebook trade-up group page. It’s a way to get rid of my stuff and get something we need. This reminds me of the game our youth group played. The teams started out with a pencil and rang a doorbell to see what the homeowners would trade for it. They continued to go to different doorbells trading up. One team ended up with a mattress. Another time a group ended with a TV and the other with a couch. I will start my trade-up with this bracelet made of soda pop tabs. Let’s see who on the FB group wants to trade.

Now for resolutions to improve my relationships with others. I know people want more humor in their lives and will love me more for providing it.

I resolve to entertain my coworkers and strengthen our relationships by being an elf-on-a-shelf type of character once a month at work. I’ll leave a calling card with what I’m calling myself that season— Jack Frost-meister, jilted Valentine, leprechaun, Easter runt-bunny, Scarecrow Joe, poltergeist, gobbler goblin, etc. I know my kids love it at elementary school when the elf or leprechaun comes at night and dumps over their desks, leaves cookie crumbs around, leaves footprints on the carpet, and turns their chairs upside down. My workmates will get a kick out of it too. It will be a community-building event each month.

I resolve to make my social media relationships stronger by posting funny chicken videos every week. People love kitten and puppy videos on social media and they will love my cute chicken videos.  They will love seeing Petunia strutting around in a cute little chicken dress, and Poopsie who likes to pretend he’s dead. Visitors freak out to see him rolling around for a dust bath and then all of sudden freeze in a death pose. It brings lots of laughs.

I resolve to show the people who live near me that I appreciate them and am glad they’re my neighbors. I’ll ring their doorbell and take off, leaving a little gift behind. Sometimes cookies, or a bouquet of flowers. Kind of like doorbell ditching, but not really. Maybe I shouldn’t do that after dark.

I resolve to have game night with my adult children once a week. Even though they’re adults. Even though they hate games. It’s all for family bonding. I promise not to bring out Twister though.

This will be the year that I shine in decluttering, expanding my technology skills, and in building strong relationships all around!