Before

One of my very favorite things to do in the world is look at before and after photographs. You know, where somebody takes a picture of somebody else's desk BEFORE they work really hard on it, and then they show you the AFTER picture and you stand amazed.

You get to see the before picture, and hear a story about how the desk got to this state, such as bad habits, poor time management, and general busy-ness.

Then you get to read about how the person decided to make a change, get to work, learn some new skills, and get rid of some serious stuff. A weekend or 7 later, the person emerges from the piles, and their desk is now the perfect example of organization and beauty.

Shows like Mission Organization and Clean Sweep just are my favorites. What seems to be such a hopeless mess is really just a few work sessions away from being a "great space".

As I write this post, I am surrounded by piles. Piles of paper. Piles of notebooks. Piles of things that need to be given away. Piles of CDs. I am definitely in the "before" picture.

I have read many, many good books on subjects such as organization, decluttering, cleaning. It's just implementing the great ideas that is difficult.

So, I am actually going to post before pictures of our office. Yikes.

Two things that would be good for you to know:
1. I am doing this to motivate myself to show you the "after" picture at SOME point in the future, but I can't say when for sure.
2. This before picture in no way reflects my husband's things, he really is organized and gracious and just all around neat.
Tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Day of Rest (I know, I know, it looks like I've had a few too many of those!) so I won't be touching it then. But, maybe on Monday I'll have the courage to start!