I like to gather lessons in organising and decluttering everywhere I go. That does not stop when I travel. In fact, it’s when I am in new and different places and situations that I learn the most. Hmm, that’s a lesson in itself. My latest travels started in Switzerland.
Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. During our two weeks there, we snapped many photos of spectacular scenes. It seemed that around every bend of the road, railway line, lake or river, there was another breathtaking sight. My husband and I took thousands of photos.
I’ve written about our travel photo organising routine before. Part of the process is editing photos to capture the most pleasing scenes. But there was one photo I did not edit.
On an early morning walk through the picturesque town of Lucerne, I spotted this scene. I knew at once it was a lesson in organising.
You see, life is messy. Therefore, organising is messy. Before you can get to “perfect”, you have to go through the messy bit. The messy bit in the photo above is garbage waiting for the routine morning collection. And when you take a closer look, it’s actually quite well organised. It doesn’t look pretty but it’s arranged into categories, it’s where it needs to be for easy collection, and there’s a reliable system in place for dealing with it.
The messy bit of organising might look like piles of papers awaiting decisions. Or it could be bags of donations waiting to be donated. Or it’s a pile of laundry that has nowhere to go because the wardrobes are already overflowing. With a bit of decluttering and organising, all these piles and bags and boxes can become “perfect”. But it takes time and effort, decisions and habits to get there.
Too often, the “mess” of organising is not acknowledged. We see pretty pictures of the “perfect” end result (hello Instagram!) but forget that life is messy.
The pretty pictures of Instagram are curated, just like my travel photos. Don’t fall into the trap of “comparisonitis”. Remember that what you see on social media rarely tells the whole story. Don’t compare your backstage with someone else’s highlight reel.
The curated version 😉
