Two weeks ago I walked through my house for what I suspected would be the last time. Taking video and photos, documenting what we would be leaving behind. At 9pm there was a loud knock at the door. It was a Sheriff’s deputy with a mandatory evacuation order. The Blue Ridge fire was a mile from our house and it was time to go. Within 5 minutes were were out, an orange glow in the rear view mirror and uncertainty in our hearts and minds. We were leaving with two vehicles, three pets, and the essentials.
As the wind driven fire had ignited I started texting my wife. Alerts on my phone and texts from neighbors kept me up to date on the progress of the fire. I left work early and headed home. I received several offers from friends and coworkers to help me move things out, even my employer offered the use of a company box truck. I thanked everyone and said I’d let them know. But this wasn’t our first rodeo.
When the Sheriff’s knocked, we gathered up the pets, got into our vehicles, and left. No last minute mad dash for something forgotten. No regrets at not having taken up the offers for moving help. What we had was all we needed, the rest was just stuff. I realized as I’d walked through the house earlier that night taking our last photos, that there really wasn’t anything left that could not be replaced, or that we couldn’t live without. What would I take? The furniture? The television? The archway in the back yard we built for my son’s wedding?
We had been decluttering for the last two decades. Starting with the economic impact of 9/11, we had started to reduce what we bought for the house. When we got to the recession of 2007 we started to divest ourselves of stuff in the event we had to move. Probably the biggest decluttering occurred leading up to the backyard wedding for my son and his bride-to-be. And then another 5,000 pounds of stuff when they left last year for his next active duty post. By the time of the Blue Ridge fire, there wasn’t much left. We loaded up ourselves, our pets, our memories, and enough food and clothes to hold us for a couple of weeks, and drove out.
And now in 2020, millions of workers have been ‘evacuated’ from their offices and are working from home. At the beginning there were employers and employees alike thinking it would just be temporary and they’d be going back to the office when it was over. But as we approach the one year mark of the pandemic this idea may not hold true. Many employees find that they like working from home, and many employers are seeing the benefit. Not all, but a large portion. When it started people were working from their couch or the kitchen table, but as we transition to permanent work from home, many workers need to carve out a separate professional space to work from.
So now may be the time to declutter. Simplify your home and your life and create a home work space in the process.
