It’s OKAY to Throw Out Ideas that Aren’t Working
I’m in a Facebook group about decluttering and today, there was a post saying:
I use conditioner a lot more quickly than shampoo. I like to change scents so I have multiple partially used bottles of shampoo. Any suggestions for use? I feel bad just tossing it.
The comments have given some… interesting suggestions about how to use the partial bottles with the majority of the suggestions being to mix them or to use them to wash items that are not hair.
WHY am I writing about this?
Because I can 100% see the parallels between these half-used bottles of shampoo and writing. The shampoo is a stand-in for half-done ideas, books that you’ve begun writing and never finished, and even for business courses you’ve purchased but never completed (or never implemented.)
You “feel bad just tossing it.”
When I gave the poster permission TO throw them away… holy moly the storm I stirred up! I was accused of being “very wealthy” and “very wasteful.” To clarify, I DID say that I have no problem only using PART of something and then tossing the rest. I.e. I use the part I wanted, needed, and liked – and the rest goes out the door.
These folks however… holding on to this shampoo and “using” it is a big deal.
Why?
While I’m shuddering at the idea of mixing the bottles (I have a feeling that’s a recipe for damaged hair!) what has me more appalled is the underlying mindset.
Stick with me, I’m digging in.
Right after Small Thing was born I wrote a short-lived series of Writer Mom Chronicles. I had this idea to document my journey as a writer and a mom. A few weeks later, when the C-section was healing and I was sleeping a bit more, the luster of the idea faded.
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