blogcutter

Tackling home-based projects during a pandemic would seem at first blush to be a no-brainer. We're staying home, there's nothing very interesting to do when we do go out and we've got all the time in the world, right?

So we get started. And we quickly realize that there are all kinds of bottlenecks in the process.The keen DIY'er finds out that it's impossible to obtain more lumber, more nails, more tools. Because lots of other folks had the same idea and were quicker to act on it.

I'm not much of a do-it-yourselfer. But I'd have thought that projects involving sorting, categorizing, "decisioning", storing or discarding were ideally suited to lockdown conditions. In hindsight, I know that it ain't necessarily so.

Decluttering and downsizing can spawn a sense of accomplishment if done well. But there's a downside to downsizing too. For one thing, pandemics change priorities. Maybe a year ago, you were hardly ever at home. Now, all of a sudden, your home must serve not only as your castle but also your office, classroom, nursery, bakery and much, much more! Tiny homes no longer sound like such a great idea when even in a moderately-sized home, you have trouble finding your own personal physical and mental space. Items you thought you'd have no more use for may assume a new importance when you've broken the item you've got a duplicate of and you can't easily shop for a new and better one.

I'll take credit for a few accomplishments in organizing and repurposing. Like old luggage, for example. We have a few suitcases around which are rather impractical for travel use, even if we do get back into travel. They don't have wheels, the zippers are unreliable and they might not stand up well to being tossed about by baggage handlers and carousels... that sort of thing. But they're fine for storage. I have one that now contains various letters and postcards I've received from people over the years - the sort of thing I don't want to throw out but don't need ready access to on an ongoing basis. If I'm in a down mood, I can just dip in, re-read a few and go on a pleasant trip down memory lane. There's another suitcase containing stuff that I've written myself - old diaries, school papers, short stories - again, things I don't refer to that often but know I still want to keep. But nor do I want, at least for now, to digitize them or consign them to the wilds of cyberspace, not knowing into whose hands and eyes they may fall.

But paradoxically, it's the stuff I KNOW I don't want which is proving to be the biggest obstacle in the decluttering process. I'm all in favour of finding a good home for stuff we no longer want or need. Pre-pandemic, I'd box up that stuff first and get it out of the way and out of my life. It used to be a quick win, a way to build the momentum that would help me see the project through to its end. But now, the TAKE IT BACK! guide has become more like a KEEP IT! or WE DON'T WANT IT!! guide. I used to regularly box up surplus books and donate them to the Friends of the Experimental Farm for their annual book sales. Or to the archives centre at Centrepointe, to be re-sold at the monthly mammoth book sales or the permanent shop at the library. But events like that have all been put on hold and they are not accepting any more books.

Other categories of surplus items can be hard to dispose of too. Furniture. Clothing. Beer, wine and liquor bottles. Many places have either closed down themselves or are Covid-nervous and feel that accepting second-hand goods at this point is not worth the hassle. The city has suspended most of the special waste drop-off days and also the giveaway weekends when you could put items at the curb side for neighbours and others cruising the area to help themselves.

I guess we all just wait for the re-opening process to resume.