After my dad died 10 years ago, I remember talking to my stepmother at their home. We were in the garage, where my dad had (I think) hundreds of boxes of stuff (receipts, phone books, who knows what else). Laura said to me: “I loved your dad. I didn’t like his nesting habits, but I loved him.”

My house and studio are starting to resemble my dad’s garage. So many things I’m clinging to…

I’m feeling the need to simplify. But I need an assignment, or a gimmick to help me through this letting go process. So, for the months of January, February and March 2008, I’m going to get rid of 10 things a day that are cluttering my life. (90 days x 10 things = 900 things that I will NEVER have to think about or shuffle around again!)

Do you want to join me?

The rules are simple: on good emotional days, a stack of collage fodder counts as one thing. On harder days, each piece of paper can count as one thing. Clear?

Since I’m planning the “exodus o’ stuff” for after the holidays, I figure I will have more time/space to tackle this project. But here are the things I got rid of today in a fit of energy:

— 4 empty cans of fixative (I kept the 3 that had a tiny bit left in them, plus the two new ones)
— a pillowcase
— a small envelope of collage stuff (if any of you want this, e-mail me with your address)
— an empty scrapbook
— 3 books