-15 to Christmas Eve: Out of Chaos,…what?

Good intentions–you know what those lead to? My plan was simple, even elegant: I would gather all the boxes and bags of Christmas decorations and paraphernalia from the basement, my extra bedroom, and wherever else I’d stashed them, into my living room for a judgement day. What do I want to keep, where is it going to be stored, and what can I Marie Kondo out of my life?

I was so young and naive.

Yes, I know that was only yesterday. I stand by my statement.

If I had simply decided to pitch several boxes without opening them, contents unseen, I would have been done with this project in a half hour or less. I still would have been able to decorate my tree and put up a few other bits of holiday spirit; the things I’ve used the last couple of years are neatly marked and organized. Getting rid of all the unmarked boxes would have been simple, and I could now be tackling other items on my to do list. (Hush–I know I’m writing right now instead of forging forward in my clean up. This is a crucial stage of procrastination for me.)

How do I know that would work? I’ve done it before. More than once. Not with Christmas items, but with clothes, books, kitchen supplies–if I haven’t used something in a long time, it’s reasonable to think that I can dispense with it without the tossing of tinsel.

But instead–Santas to the left of me, snowmen to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with chaos. Yesterday morning I was uncovering all my hiding places. My biggest success: uncovering the Beanie Baby Christmas elf collection I’d stowed in the closet of my guest bedroom, complete with outfit changes and matching Christmas critters. I spent more time than I want to admit numerically considering how I could build a North Pole scene to display them in. (Yes, I do need another craft project to ignore.)

I know that I’m in the throes of decision fatigue. I also know that the Christmas chaos that I’ve created is only a symptom of my deeper decision fatigue and that by the end of today, I will have brought order to this maelstrom. Maybe I’ll get my tree up today, even, but that might wait a day or two yet. There’s no rush.

The confusion I’ve created with my sorting project is probably an accurate representation of Christmas. How much more complicated, how many more hurdles, do we create for ourselves and those around us as we bluster through the holidays? How many experiences, expectations, and frustrations do we hang on our Christmas trees? And then…it’s over, and we’re putting it all away.

In neatly labeled boxes.

Unless I’ve just talked myself into a major purging. Who needs three thigh-high Snoopy Santas, anyway? The North Pole village for the Beanie Baby elves, though…we’ll see.