The Change Within

Sometimes the greatest changes take place without a single soul noticing a change in outward appearances.

I worked, along with my Youngest Son, all weekend cleaning up computer files, trading beds, turning two bedrooms upside down and inside out all weekend. 

I wish I would have taken "before" pictures because other than trading a double bed for a single one in one room and shuffling the rest of the furniture about, there isn't a drastic change to room number one. 

Here is "the middle" of the transformation:

Here is "the end". I suppose there is an outward difference within this room. It has morphed from spare room, daycare, book writing and book collecting to mainly my new "office" space.

Room #2 looked bad, really bad in the middle of the transformation.

But the end result was looking exactly the same way as it did when it started.

The difference lies within. 

I have shuffled, organized, decluttered, vacuumed and washed down underneath all that does not show. 

My son aided and abetted me as we cleaned up, dejunked, deleted, moved and sorted computer files. Nothing looks different when you glance over at the computer desk (except perhaps the computer desktop itself. My son has deleted all excess and it looks as neat as a pin).

We worked all weekend and then raced to put things back together so I could open my doors and let small children enter our world this morning.

Nothing looks different.

But I feel lighter. I feel different. The weight I expected to lift after I completed my family book project is finally lightening. 

That weight had little to do with the book and everything to do with all of the excesses in our world adding up without discarding anything along the way.

I don't look any different on the outside after these little bouts of decluttering. But I am feeling oh so much better. 

I have a long way yet to go and the moment I finish, I could probably start over and do it all over again. That is how much excess has accumulated. 

Life is like that. 

The "real work" to become who you are and who you are meant to be happens inside. You can make a complete metamorphosis and no one from the outside, looking in can see the difference. Until they take the time to "open up those cupboard doors" and take a peek inside. 

Don't judge from outside appearances. You never know what is going on inside those doors you have not yet opened.