Day #3: Throw Away Something That You Like

What I really need to do is throw away about 200 things that I like. My room looks like it was raped by a monsoon and then pillaged by modern pirates. I try to avoid letting my mother anywhere near this "wing" of the house because she just doesn't understand. Most artists and creative minds thrive in their version of a pigsty!! I am no different. I don't pretend that my mess is in any way unique. I'm sure there's a girl out there somewhere with My Little Ponies and coconut bras flung haphazardly about her crib...the opperative word being crib.

No wonder people move out of their parents house and leave their rooms exactly the same as high school. It's not like in the movies where they become all teary-eyed and sentimental to see that their mother has left the Hanson poster in the same spot on the wall. No, no. In real life we HAVE to leave our rooms because we don't know what to do with half the shit we've accumulated over the years. The thousands of dollars spent on crap that we somehow deem "precious" isn't easily tossed out. But something tells us that a collection of mardi gras beads wouldn't match our trendy loft in Lower Pac Heights.

Which brings me to today's assignment. Although it would probabaly bode well if I got rid of something littering the floor that I know, sooner or later, I will actually have to un-clutter, the whole point of it being strewn so strategically is that I may need it in the near future. Converse that I wear to work, a volleyball blanket that I take on the occasional picnic, and crutches...that I haven't used in 4 months...are all necessary items that need to be within arm's length in case of a hasty emergency.

However, the more permanent fixtures stocked in the bookshelves or hanging in the closet or packed away in the armoir will be more challenging to remove, and therefore, life-changing. We all know giving away clothes, and dare I even think it, shoes, is NOT an option. And the protective ski helmet wedged in the armoir has saved my life many times. So what? What to throw out?

I look over to my left at the wall decoration: framed Steve Miller Band album cover, My Little Pony and Obama Hope posters, but to my right, something sparkly catches my eye. I'm face-to-face with the "photograph" of Josh Hartnett, specially ordered online for its shiny finish and striking handsomeness. Oh, how many naughty, hormonal high school dreams I had while laying below my ceiling, papered with pictures of Josh. I even brought him to college where friends and dates teased me mercilessly for my crush. Over the years, as my preferences changed, the posters and clippings were tossed, but I could never bring myself to crumple this specific mail-order Josh. It graces and complements my wall to this day. But I know now that I have to do it. It has to go.

Before I rip it to shreds, I have to ask: is anyone willing to adopt it to a new home? Like the time your parents told you they sent Spot off to a wide-open farm in the country, when really they put him to sleep, would anyone like to humor me and send Josh to a better wall? ...I'll throw in a pack of gum too....?