Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Trying to Eliminate the Clutter

What can I say?
Clutter is my middle name.
I've always had trouble throwing things out. 
I have lots of stuff I really don't need and I'm an awful housekeeper.
It's hard to clean when you can't find the floor and everything is so full of former treasures. 
I have tried to improve things and stopped buying books.  My husband buys enough for both of us. But I do receive books to review...  Since I haven't paid for them, they are easier to give away.

Last night I actually got rid of a very valuable sweatshirt.  It's from my past; I wore it in high school.  That was almost fifty years ago.  Yep!  I'm that old, and so is that sweatshirt.

In recent years I've been sleeping in my old heavy cotton sweatshirts in the winter. They are finally falling apart. The one I threw out was missing its neckline and didn't provide any warmth and protection for my shoulders, so it wasn't quite doing its job.  I loved that sweatshirt.  It brought back memories.  It was from NCSY the youth movement that changed my life.  It introduced me to true Torah Judaism. I'd wear my NCSY sweatshirts in my fancy GNN high school, where others wore their expensive clothes from Lord & Taylor, bought full price, with genuine Pappagallo shoes.

Here I am in a YU Youth Bureau TL Seminar sweatshirt of the same sort of ambience, when I was in high school.


The pins are SSJ Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry.

I must admit that I laundered the sweatshirt before throwing it in the garbage, not quite sure I'd have the guts to do it.  Also, I felt that I had to show it some respect...  Being an active part of NCSY and going to Seminars were crucial in helping me become the person I am today.

I may no longer have that sweatshirt, but I still have yiddishkeit,  Shabbat, Jewish Holidays and all that Torah True Judaism includes.  Thank G-d, Baruch Hashem.

4 comments:

Risa Tzohar said...

כל הכבוד!

I know how difficult this is. But, in the ended it's a thing not a person.


You can do it!

Batya said...

thanks,
baby steps, baby steps

rutimizrachi said...

The digital age has made throwing things out easier for Coach and me. We photograph the object, and then we can let it go.

Your photos and your memories of those early seeds of Yiddishkeit, and the garments and objects that symbolize your growth, are indeed very precious. BS"D, you will have them forever -- long after the sweatshirt and pins and even you are history. How? Look around at those kids and grandkids!

Batya said...

Ruti, memory is worth more than the actual objects, too.
thanks