Lee’s Comments (group member since Feb 19, 2011)

Lee’s comments from the Boomers and Books group.

My decluttering efforts aren't going as well as I had hoped, so I don't feel like I can offer much advice to anyone. And when it comes to relationships and divorces, I have even less advice worth sharing. When I got divorced, no one got the house - we sold it. We also divided up all our possessions. I ended up with 1/3; he ended up with 1/3; and we sold 1/3. And my third was still way more stuff than one person needs.

Even though we had too much stuff, we managed to keep things semi-organized by having a house bigger than two people needed, plus I stayed home and spent all my time cramming stuff into every nook and cranny I could find. I was very good at hiding stuff away.

Since I didn't change my ways, my possessions have continued building up since the divorce, and now I'm back to having stuff crammed into every nook and cranny. It finally started spilling out into my living areas and it's distressing to look at, a little dangerous (tripping over or bumping into things), and downright inconvenient. My clutter isn't as bad as some people's and I don't qualify as a genuine hoarder, but I just don't want to live that way any more.

Decluttering is a personal choice and an emotional one. So you can help someone achieve their goal, but they're the one who has to make the decision to change.

The preceding sounds kind of preachy to me, for some reason. That's not my intention, so please overlook it. If I'm trying to preach to anyone, it's too myself. All I'm trying to do is to share what I'm going through with my clutter problem.

I finally finished the Steve Harvey book. It was good enough so I plan on writing a review of it for our Boomers and Books blog.

Sandra wrote: "I've just started reading Better Off Without Him by Dee Ernst. It's really funny so far!"

I'm embarrassed to say that I started Dee's book and then got side-tracked because I foolishly promised a couple of people that I would read their books right away. I hadn't gotten very far into the book, but the beginning part was funny. Since it's been a while, I'll probably have to start all over again.

Barbara wrote: "Lee.. which way to the Secret Book Club?"

Link = The Secret Book Club

That is an interesting tidbit, Sharon.

I just started reading Straight Talk, No Chaser by Steve Harvey where he's spilling the beans about how men think about marriage. Pretty interesting, and it's a nice change from some of the heavy stuff I've been reading lately. Of course, I was planning on reading some light fiction for a change from all the nonfiction I've been reading and reviewing.

Well, apparently I just couldn't resist writing another nonfiction review. Originally I didn't think I was going to have anything to say about the Penney Pierce book which would be of value to other readers. But I guess I've turned into a blabby, opinionated person in my old age.

I'm currently reading Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration by Penney Pierce. A pretty interesting book, although I probably won't be reviewing it on our Boomers and Books blog. I've also suddenly revived my interest in Civil War romances (romances being my secret guilty pleasure). I just finished Harrigan's Bride by Cheryl Reavis. Maybe I should do a review of that, just for a change of pace. We do seem to have a lot of nonfiction readers on our blog, don't we?

Okay, just one more topic. Since our group is called Boomers and Books, and we already have a discussion topic for Boomers, it seems like we should have one for Books, don't you think? So what is everyone reading right now? Or what book have you just finished? Anything interesting to share about it?

I've almost finished The Management of Time by James T. McCay. It was actually written for business managers and was described as "the most progressive management document of our time" which must be true because it was written in 1959 and it still applies. In fact, a lot of it is even more true today then it was back then. I need to go back and takes some notes because I've always had a problem with managing my time and being productive.

Since Sharon isn't around right now, I thought I'd redecorate the place. Where are the smilies? I need to insert a snicker or two. Anyway, back when I was young, I used rearrange things all the time. In fact, my ex once said he never knew what to expect when he came home, and he figured that one day he'd discover that I had moved the entire house. To which I responded something to the effect that it wasn't really positioned very well on the lot.

So this discussion topic is for any old thing we want to chat about.

Yes, if only we could learn how to remember the important stuff.

Here's something ironic - I've learned that almost everything I learned as a child isn't true. Either it never was true or it's not true any more.

Have we learned anything worth sharing? (I hope so.) Perhaps there's something we wish we had discovered much earlier in life. But to be honest, as soon as I thought of this topic, my mind went blank. So apparently, one thing I haven't learned is how to ask a question in a way that inspires profound thoughts. Heck, at this point, I'll take any old bit of advice that's marginally useful to at least one person somewhere in the universe.

I had a relapse this past week. Not only did I not do very much about the clutter I have, but I went and bought more stuff. I ordered half a dozen books plus some household items I had been lusting after. Even worse, there are two big used book sales coming up in the near future. One is this next weekend and the other one is in April. I usually can't resist going to them to "browse" which almost always results in another dozen books added to my overstuffed library.

Major setback. I'm going to have to pull myself together. Somehow.

Ruth, on our group home page here where it says discussion board, look a little to the right. It says topics: all/new/unread. Just click on "new."

This is an ongoing topic for me. One of my goals for this year is to eliminate all the clutter in my life. It's not just a problem of physical clutter, although that's a big part of it. Some of it is less tangible clutter. There's computer clutter, such as out of control email and disorganized files which result in duplicates or not being able to find the information I need. There's also mental clutter. Too many ideas or projects being pursued at the same time result in a racing mind and a tendency to not finish one thing before moving on to the next.

As part of my efforts to conquer my physical clutter problem, I've just finished reading "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh.


I'm working on a rather lengthy review of it that I will be posting Monday on our group blog, which is also called Boomers and Books.