Last Chance to Win a Kindle/Hokey Pokey Wednesday: Hoarder Nation

I'm trying to clean up my life. Really.
Not that it's dirty. But it's packed.
I'm not a hoarder like the ones you see on television. But I save things. It's hard to let go.
I know I'm not alone.
We are a nation of hoarders. It's just that everyone has their own degree.
Why do we attach ourselves to certain things?
Fear of loss, comfort, desperation, laziness, compulsion...I think these all have a hand.
We are a nation that affixes our happiness to our possessions.
For me, the number one reason is sentimentality. For example, I find it so hard to get rid of anything remotely connected to my children. Today I went through a basket of stuffed animals and asked my son Casey which ones he wanted to keep. Whenever he said to toss one, I'd say something like, "But I bought this giraffe for you when you were sick. See its big, sad eyes?"
And Casey would say, "I don't remember, Mom. Just ditch it."
It's like I don't want to lose the memory.
My older son is fantastic at letting go of things. He is a neat freak, and he knows the trick is to not let anything lay around.
I want to be like that. As a matter of fact, I'm not letting anything new accumulate. But the old stuff is hard to get rid of.
I read a great tip in a magazine: Take a picture of the things you love before you get rid of them. I'll probably snap a shot of the giraffe before he goes bye-bye.
Another huge problem I have is papers. First of all, there are manuscripts. I certainly don't need them - I have them on the computer! But you try dumping your manuscript in the trash. It's like thowing your baby away.

Great minds think alike: Albert Einstein also had a cluttered workspace!

Then, I have critiques. I already went over them, but I like to keep the comments "just in case." I also like reading the compliments.
I have notebooks filled with notes from writing conferences, but never look at again.
I have piles of research for my American Revolution books. (This I hope to box up and put in the attic.)
I have receipts and statements...I have Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons up the wazoo...all these things I know I need to file, but God help me, I don't want to take the time to!!!
I have mugs from everywhere I've ever been. I don't use them - I display them.
I have soooo many pictures...It would probably take a solid year to but them in albums (I went through a scrapbooking phase, and have two completed pages, and all the materials.)
I have THINGS...little things that have captured my interest, or mean something to me.
I have my kids' art work from all the years gone by...Including things far from original or creative. Like a foam plaque with a leprechaun, rainbow and pot of gold that one of my kids glued together.

Oh, and I have boxes...lots of decorative boxes and bins to organize things in...and they are EMPTY!!!

I also have many books - far more than I've ever read!!!

All this, even though I've been cleaning out. I just don't know how I'll ever get done with it all, because I can't devote my life to cleaning up my prior messes.

I'm trying to do a little each day.

And I am proud to have halted the madness.

It feels so cruel to get rid of things, but now I view it as survival of the fittest. It's me, or them.

A cluttered life is an imprisoned one.

I deserve to be free.

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Don't forget to enter my "Win a Kindle" contest!!!!! Today is your last chance!!!!!!

Share my Matchbox Miracle and Enter to Win a Kindle!

Thanks to everyone who's been entering this contest. Especially with the passing of my aunt, I'm appreciating the positivity and love we're generating.

 

I promised I'd tell the story of my Matchbox Ford Focus miracle, so here it is:

 

A few years ago I was going through a really hard time. I'll spare you the details, but things were confusing. My head felt like it was literally spinning, and I didn't know what to do with myself.

 

And I wasn't writing. Who could write with my personal life in turmoil?

 

I was coming out of an office building, and for some reason I looked down. At my feet was a Matchbox car. "Oh, Casey would like this," I thought. I picked it up for my younger son.

 

I examined it: A Ford Focus. Purple. It said "Focus" across the hood, and the word was scattered all over the side doors. "Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus..."

 

 

This is what the car looks like! Thank you, Google Images!!!

 

I put it back down. "I can't give this to Casey. It was on the ground. Who knows where it came from."

 

I started to walk away. Then it hit me:

 

A Ford Focus.

 

Henry Ford said one of my favorite quotes: "Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're right."

 

 

Purple.

My favorite color. I surround myself with it.

 

Focus.

Could the word be any clearer?

 

"This is a messsage for me, from God," I said, picking up the car for a second time.

 

I took it with me to a writing retreat a few days later. I focused. And I wrote the book I'd been trying to write for years: Upon Secrecy.

 

 

 

 

It came pouring out in that one week. I had only the first line when I got there: "God, forgive me."

 

I wrote that story in a veritable fever. My head was pounding.  The scene was something out of a movie.

 

When we were leaving, I handed the end of the manuscript to my editor, who'd been reading along as I wrote.  She said, "If it's anything like the rest, it'll be fine."

 

Hearing those words from her was a second miracle, believe me.

 

Focus. So simple. But it took a Matchbox car from God for me to sit down and do it.

 

 

 

Got a story about a miracle? Share it with me, and you could win yourself or someone you love a Kindle.

There are other ways to win:

1. Follow this blog. (There is a space at the bottom of the post to enter your e-mail. I know it's hard to figure out - but I can't figure out how to make it clearer. Sorry!!!)
2. Post this contest in your status on any social media.
3. E-mail your favorite quote on "miracles" to Ldymcbeth@aol.com.
4. Review one of my books (there are four) on your blog, Goodreads or Amazon.
5. I'm open to other creative ideas for entries. Try me!
You will receive one entry for each thing you do. I will select ONE winner out of all the entries on Thursday, December 15.