See this picture:
This was five years and 20 pounds of junk mail, old magazines and random scraps of paper. That paper used to live in a big plastic bin in the back of my closet. Out of sight, out of mind, right??? Oh, contraire mon cheri.
Like a half eaten cupcake left in the fridge, that paper was always on my mind. "Shred paper" was on every "To Do" list. It was my New Years resolution 3 years running. I had promised to do it before we moved and yet what did I watch the movers huff and puff into my new apartment??? The Bin. The task just seemed SO daunting and there never seemed to be enough hours in the day to tackle it. I ignored The Bin. For a really long time.
But lately I had been feeling like The Bin's days were numbered. Like Luke Skywalker knowing that his show down with Darth Vader would soon be upon him (Star Wars marathon was on this weekend…), I knew that The Bin and I would meet in a great battle and that I must emerge the victor.
You see, ever since I became obsessed with this family...
I have been trying to give the excess in my life a big 'ole heave-ho. To me, that's exactly what a detox is all about. (Um…we are detoxing*, right???) All the excess is cleared and what is left is the glowy, shiny, happy being that you were meant to be. The Bin was holding me back.
That is, until yesterday. Yesterday I decided that The Bin the was going down. It took HOURS but, I shredded it. I recycled it. And now it is GONE! Take that Bin of Stagnation! I might have kept that extra 20 pounds in the closet, but now that it's gone, it feels as if that weight has been physically lifted off of me.
My new mission:
Must. Stop. Junk Mail.
Most of the paper in that bin of purgatory was junk mail and solicitations. I had to spend a whole day of my life shredding documents that I had never asked for! Who knows what I could have done with that time if I wasn't stuck in the house doing that. I could have invented a hovercraft. Or started a movement that led to world peace. Or caught up on The Real Housewives of New York. But, alas, the day is lost and we will never know what could have been. Darn you Junk Mail!!!
Want to join me in my fight against Junk Mail??? Zero Waste Home lays out some great strategies for fighting the Junk Mail war here.
Have a great weekend, Veggies!!! May The Force (and a good shredder...) be with you.
-♥ J :)
*On Monday let's start talkin' detox again. I'll get to work on some more sample menus.
