I love RealSimple. I really do. The feeling I get from waiting to find
this publication in the mail every month is comparable to the
anticipation of Christmas. However, I also love organizing and
decluttering. (And, as it turns out, procrastinating on other more
important things on the to-do list...studying, moving the paint can out from behind my door so that I don't whack the door into it every single time I get up in the morning, and folding laundry. I would pay good money for a magic laundry elf that would fold clothes while I sleep.) I recently started going through
the painful process of getting rid of years worth of magazines. When I
first started receiving RealSimple, I bought magazine holders and neatly
lined them up next to one of my two bookshelves. Over the years, that
row of magazines has become a dumping ground for every issue. I would
add one to the pile each month, telling myself, "Okay, this is it. I have to
organize this corner. I can't take it anymore!" But sadly, that month
would fly by and nothing ever got done. That is, until three days ago.
It has actually been enjoyable: instead of turning on the TV or flipping
though Jane Austen's Emma (which I have been trying to read,
unsuccessfully, longer than I've been reading RealSimple), I retreat to
the pile on the floor, carefully thumbing through each page and tearing
out recipes, pictures and ideas that I might use someday. I've placed
them in sheet protectors in a binder, which I already love. It's like a
favorite band made a greatest hits CD that just happened to contain all
of my most loved songs.
