Happy April!

While the first day of Spring might be in March, the calendar flipping to April always signifies the change in season to me. And any time the weather shifts, but especially when it’s getting warmer, I want to roll up my sleeves, tie a bandana over my hair, and get busy getting rid of old stuff.

One bit of old stuff is projects.

At this time of year, I ask myself:

What project am I carrying around that I’m never going to do?

(That can be anything from a writing project to a craft idea to a household improvement! For our purposes, we’re looking at PROJECTS, not chores.)

Now, in order to GET to that question – what am I carrying around that I’m never going to do? – I have to do some pre-work called:

What are all my projects?

You might call these “open loops” but at the end of the day, they’re the things that you see every day, that your brain catalogues, and that you are forcing yourself to ignore.

Where have I told myself, “Kim, you’re going to do that, make that, create that” and then didn’t keep that promise to myself?

Where have I started something, in good faith that I’d enjoy it, that I’d finish it, that it would bring beauty and meaning to the world, and never finished it?

Then I make a list. Quickly and without succumbing to the woulda-shoulda-coulda’s.

Now, I ask myself, with as much honesty as I can:

Kim, are you REALLY going to do this? And if you are, will you do with with joy and pleasure? Or is it guilt and obligation?

Let’s look at a concrete, non-writing example:

I had a box of yarn. At least a dozen skeins in different colors. And knitting needles. At least eight pairs in different sizes.

I only know how to make one thing: scarves. (I’m using that loosely. I can knit but not pearl so I flip the whole mess around when I need to go the other way!)

While I like scarves, I only have one neck. I’m not a skilled enough knitter to make NICE scarves for gifts. I have all this yarn and all these needles and I honestly don’t know the “right” way to match the two.

But here’s the real crux of it:

I haven’t knitted in at least five years. Maybe longer. I shuffled that big plastic box all around my storage room, always thinking of the money that was represented in that box. But when I have time to myself to do a project, I never ever thought, “Oh! I’d love to knit a scarf!”

I was carrying this project around well beyond its expiration date. During one season in my life, it did bring me joy and pleasure. Now… it was guilt.

So I pulled out just one skein of yarn to save and all the rest went to Goodwill with my blessings. That project, that creation, was never going to be created BY ME so this is a chance that it can be created by somebody else.

(Wondering why I kept one skein of yarn? Because you never know when you need string RIGHT NOW to tie something up. It’s got a practical use and has zero guilt attached to it.)

Also going out the door are an oil lamp I was never going to make, wax that will never become candles, and a pile of scrapbook supplies that will never become layouts. I made the windchime from the wooden spoons I’d been collecting. I sorted the card supplies I use to send cards to my clients. I threw out the dried up tub of air-dray clay and bought a fresh one because I have an immediate craft project I want to do.

So, as you start this task, start with the physical projects that you can see. The fabric, the paints, the glitter.

Hone your “Am I carrying this OLD STUFF with me?” decision bone on real, tangible project-related STUFF.

Because now comes the harder part…

Keep Reading!