I swung open the fridge door and immediately felt tears welling up. This past weekend, while I was MIA, retreating to my bedroom in sheer exhaustion, my partner decided to tackle the fridge. The glass shelves sparkled, and the yogurts sat neatly in a row.
I live in a whirlwind. There’s chaos everywhere—outside in the world and right inside my home. Time and again, I find myself prioritizing the world’s chaos over the mess in my own space.
Most days, the clutter is manageable enough to ignore. Sure, there’s the never-ending pile of laundry that I have to nag the kids to put away, that endless stack of papers that seems to multiply daily from my third grader’s backpack, and the Lego creations or makeshift reading forts that pop up in various corners of the house.
But now, it feels like the chaos has reached a tipping point. I’m falling behind on sorting out the kids’ outgrown clothes (seriously, can I just complain for a sec about how tricky this is? Does this fit at the waist but not quite at the length? And how long have their arms gotten? Ugh). Laundry? Yeah, I’m drowning in both dirty and clean piles.
I’ve been fantasizing about having a dumpster dropped off so I can just toss everything in and watch it vanish. Honestly, I wouldn’t even miss it.
To make matters worse, my cleaning lady showed up last week only to find that the vacuum had died on her. Now, it’s been nearly three weeks since half my house has seen a vacuum cleaner.
Even on my best days, I struggle to keep up with this mess, but now I’ve hit rock bottom. I won’t bore you with a list of everything I’ve been doing instead, but let’s just say that the last two weeks have made my usual “busy” look like I’m just hanging out.
The irony of my situation is almost comical if it didn’t make me want to curl up and hide under the covers. I pour so much energy into work, volunteering, and keeping my family moving that there’s nothing left for my living space. I’ve been so focused outside my home that now I feel like a rubber band stretching to its limit.
So today, I’m launching my new mission: decluttering my life. I can’t enjoy the things that bring me joy and creativity if I can’t even see over the mountain of clutter. I need to act fast and be ruthless in my culling. My garbage and recycling bags are going to overflow. I need to carve out space to breathe.
And I need to do this solo—no kids to stop me from tossing out a broken toy, no partner around to insist on his method of organizing (he’s great at tidying, but right now, I need speed).
I’m about to download the latest album from P!nk and grab those trash bags. I’ll be the Moses of my home, parting the sea of clutter and clearing a path to the promised land—a place where I won’t have to shut my eyes to find a moment of peace. Reverse Hurricane Emily is fueled by caffeine and ready to tackle this mess.
Meet me at the curb. I’ll be relocating those mountains of stuff. They’re about to disappear, and trust me, they’ll leave behind a majestic sight.
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In summary, I’m tackling my clutter head-on, determined to create a more peaceful living space. With a little music and determination, I’ll transform my chaotic home into a sanctuary.