Detours in Decluttering

In his book Driven, Robert Herjavec shares how often successful entrepreneurs have messy desks, a sign of their creativity and drive to succeed, he says.  I chuckled when I read that, as it meant that I qualify; I have what it takes.

Although this summer I have declared war on my office and am determined to declutter and get rid of the paper and stuff that holds me back.  I have to admit it is a bit overwhelming – I mean where do you start?  Right now I working systematically around the room, creating even more chaos until order can be restored.

I should also confess that I do this every summer with varying degrees of success, but this year I mean business as we plan to put our house up for sale and so I really do have to clean out the cupboards and reduce the signs of a busy home business.   No mean feat.

I also know it will take me time as I sort through the files and books I have collected over the years.  With the books in particular, it is like parting with old friends and my preference is to find a good home for each of them. Want a collection of business books?

Even the local library has turned me down.

While it is early days, I also know that the process will serve to remind me of how far Company of Women, and myself as well, have come in 10 years.  Yesterday I opened my Success Box – a treasure trove of notes and cards from people who took the time to thank me and express their appreciation for what I had done for them. You know the kind of stuff.  I keep it all in this beautiful box, so that when I am having a down day, week, whatever, I can turn to its contents and remind myself of what I have accomplished and how much my work has impacted other people.

Well hidden away at the bottom of this box was a little sculpture of two birds, sitting close together, one with its wing wrapped around the other.  I have had it for years. It was a gift from a former colleague and at one time it literally was perched on the top of my desk, reminding me daily of our friendship.  But it kept falling off, so I had carefully stored it in the Box.

I really smiled when I saw the birds, because that friend has just come back into my life.  For years we had kept in touch but it had been the odd card or email now and again. But now she too has joined the world of entrepreneurship, become part of Company of Women and it is truly wonderful to have her back.

All of which just goes to show that the world keeps evolving, bringing people into and out of our lives. I say out of our lives too because 2012 seems to be a time of transition for many of my friends as they chose to downsize, move out of the city to start afresh in smaller communities. 

But the moral of the story I guess, is with true friends you never really say goodbye, as I found last summer when my husband and I looked up folks in England that we hadn’t seen in 40 years and with whom we just took up where we left off.

This little detour via the Success Box has made the decluttering less painful.  It is perhaps taking longer, but the journey to reconnect with myself is worth it.