Last week I was in spring cleaning mode mostly in an effort to forge my way through our tiny workshop to get to my paper cutter. We don't have a garage because we converted it into two thirds spare room and studio and one third teeny workshop with table saw. Anyway, it ends up where we also hang our wet bathing suits, store our camping gear, throw boxes that need to be recycled and put muddy shoes. It's also where I cut paper, when I can get to the paper cutter, which is seldom. Because of the stuff.
But I became fed up, as does happen every few months, and I cleaned up the whole place. Recycled what I could, tossed what I couldn't and put away the rest. And it felt so great that I started working on other clutter hubs in my house and made a snap decision to recycle my collection of Real Simple magazines. You know, the magazine where they spend 200 pages explaining ways to simplify your life by buying a zillion new things. I subscribe. And I also keep the magazines. I have seven years worth now. That's a crap load of magazines. I went through the first few and grabbed some marinade recipes that I will likely never use and then decided that I don't need anything else - not lettering for any future collages since I don't even do collage. Not the recipes. Not the tips. I don't need ideas about how to redecorate a room for less than a hundred dollars since I can't be bothered. And I sure as hell don't need them in my house anymore. So I recycled the lot. And if any of you editors are reading this and you need some editorial for your next edition, I suggest a tip, something to the effect of recycle this magazine immediately after use. Real simple.
9 comments:
this is hilarious - i too subscribe and have stacks of them sitting around. they seem too nice to recycle. finally, i went through all of them while watching tv (i don't ahve 7 years worth however) and ripped out an article or quote here or there and recycled them. (but i kept the december editions - heehee)
Ha! I just started subscribing to Real Simple and it is now one of, oh, maybe 17 magazines scattered across the family room floor. This morning, my (almost) two year old decided to do the recycling for me and take all of my magazines out...and toss them every which way. I have yet to pick them up and maybe I never will. They'll just wind up back on the floor...mostly unread...anyway! ;o)
Oh Real Simple...you are so beautiful, so well-designed, so enticing, so unnecessary. I admit I have also spent a good deal of time hoarding my Real Simples in a bag in the closet, but now I am inspired to let them go. I think I might go upstairs and do just that right now. So thank you! And here's to less clutter and "stuff."
true that Susie. True that. I used to subscribe to that mag but found it a little redundant after a few years.
I do miss their recipes though...
I need to catch that de-clutter bug. My house is bursting at the seams.
Sister, I have been falling off the wagon and kicking this habit for years and the pile-up is much more manageable. So I'll take a meeting with you any day.
Perhaps Real Simple should rename themselves to Read One, You've Read Them All! Still, bacon wrapped poached quail's eggs with mango salsa entices me every time.
;)
That's funny- I cannot let go of my traveler magazines. What if I go somewhere and then I will NEED maybe that issue? Maybe it would feel good to let them go...
oh my goodness! i TOTALLY understand! how inspired! out the door, out the door. now new space, open, clear. it is that simple.
(i have to tell you/i shared your art with my 13 yr. old son & he adored it! esp. the chicken!!).
joyful clucks to you.
I go in and out with this magazine! I'll subscribe for a while, because it looks so clean and makes life look so manageable, and then by month 9 or 10 it starts looking so sad, so sparse, so devoid of anything meaty, and then I call it Real Sterile and cancel the subscription. A few years later I'll see it in the checkout, usually during a chaotic moment, and buy it to feel like I'm gaining some sort of control over my life. Then the cycle starts anew.
Amen!
Loved this post.
(ok, I know I should say something more thoughtful because "good post" is like a sign of a creepy spammer, but why am I even awake?)
I will now tweet this to prove my love to you.
Post a Comment