First sunny day in quite a while when I can just about stand being outside for any length of time. The boxes – all 102 of them (I’ve reduced them down by one already!) are out of the shed for now, stacked up in the garden while the source of the leaks is looked into. I’m not taking any more chances of having things ruined – especially the paper work. Hopefully, the process won’t take too long …
It’s fascinating looking into the boxes’ contents once again – en masse, that is. So many numerous, diverse objects seen through the plastic – blurred and yet, recognisable.
Next part of this momentous journey is to get the garden studio sorted so that I can get back to some sort of normality. There’s a lot of stuff jammed in there still – hardly touched since using it as a dumping ground for the contents of my former studio in the week between Christmas and New Year. I’m remembering the sound advice given to me by family and friends – ‘there really is no rush, take your time, pace yourself’ and so on. And so, I’m doing my best to be sensible so that I don’t burn myself out by working all hours god sends, as is my tendency.
There really is no hurry and I can say that so much more comfortably now that I’m more readily accepting this whole sorting process as an integral part of my creative work. Strange that I haven’t until now, really but then I think that’s largely due to the fact that I’ve never been totally open about the amount of stuff I have.
Any reference to my collections/raw work materials in the past has mentioned a substantial amount of stuff, but I have never, until recently, been completely open about having one hundred and two 30 litre boxes full of it! Indeed, did I even know I had this amount until this whole process started? Having different bits and pieces stashed away here and there meant hiding in some respects – not consciously, I don’t think – but perhaps, thinking about it, my subconscious knew what it was doing. There’s a lot of embarrassment associated with hoarding and the stigma associated with it can make me feel hypersensitive to any discerned judgment. I know that I can become pretty defensive whenever the subject of how much stuff I’ve collected is broached. And so, rather than running away from facing the truth, I’m starting to embrace it. It actually feels quite refreshing to be open and honest about it all – down to 101 now, even as I type this post!
I’m looking forward to getting the shed leak proofing done and the boxes back in place by the end of today. I want the door closed on them, both physically and metaphorically, so that I can turn my focus to getting the garden studio sorted and back to the work I left way back at the end of December 2024 – the work around blankets, synonymous with comfort and warmth, the very things I didn’t feel at all at that time.
Or perhaps not? Perhaps my focus will fall on something entirely different and new? Who knows what this recent upheaval might bring? Change is good, they say – as good as a rest – and rest is something I intend to take in between the ongoing sorting.
