Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke

Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life

By Gail Blanke

Copyright 2009
Springboard - Self-Help/Organization
263 pages

What led you to pick up this book? If you have to ask that question, you haven't set foot in my house and probably haven't read my whines about tripping over the clutter.

Describe the book without giving anything away. The subtitle says it all: "Clear the clutter, find your life." Throw Out Fifty Things is not, however, just about physical clutter removal. About half of the book is dedicated to removing mental clutter from your life -- tossing out negative thoughts and changing your attitude.

How did you feel about the real-life characters involved in this author's tale? The author is a motivational speaker and life coach. She's pretty much the only person involved, apart from references to her family and clients. I found her style breezy and upbeat. I think in person I'd like her and she'd have a lot to say to me if I hired her. "Stop telling yourself you're not a morning person!", for example. I do fall back on that excuse, quite a bit.

What did you like most about the book? I like her method of counting items thrown out. Whether you throw out one magazine or a thousand of them, you can still only count magazines as one item. 3 beauty products = 1 item. And, so forth. So, you can't just go toss out a pile of 50 magazines and say, "Okay, gosh darn it, I'm all done. But, my house is still cluttered! I don't get it."

Was there anything you didn't like about the book? This is not truly a book for people who are buried in clutter, as in obsessive-compulsives. It's really kind of light on the clutter removal, in my humble opinion, but it's a good starting point. I just plowed ahead and read the book without listing what I tossed out for starters because after a year of not doing much cleaning while I traveled back and forth between states to help out during my mother's final year (and then bringing home boxes of books and mementos from my childhood home -- eck, not helpful) there's an awful lot to go through in my house. I am, however, going to continue to use her method and reread this book repeatedly because what little I accomplished was positive and the reinforcement is needed.

Recommended? Absolutely. I'm not sure this is the best book if you're totally in over your head, but it's still worth reading and it's easy to quickly put her principles into practice. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone who needs a little inspiration to work on removing both literal and mental junk from their lives.

Cover thoughts: I like the cover. It does mention that the book is both a guide to actual removal of objects and changing your attitude in the cover blurb on the back. When I sat down to read the book, I ignored the cover blurb but I think it's good to keep that in mind.

Coming up soon:

Seriously, someday I'm going to get around to the February Reads in Review. Just don't hold your breath. It might be a few days. Tomorrow, there will be a sneak peek into the book Outlaw Marshal with my brief thoughts at the end (I did not finish the book, but I think it would appeal to plenty of readers). Then, I plan to review a couple of children's books: Monkey, Monkey, Monkey and Otto Grows Down. Both are beautifully illustrated, fun books and I need to photograph a couple of page spreads to share, before I review them.

Skink chase:

Do you know what a skink is? I didn't, till about two years ago when we traveled to a swim meet in the Delta (about two hours' drive north of us) and spent some time walking around a park between events. There, I photographed a little striped lizard that turned out to be a skink. We have loads of anole lizards (like the little green guy in my sidebar) but I've never seen a skink around our home until this week . . . when one showed up in my utility room. This is one of the joys of life in Mississippi -- catching wild animals that somehow find their way indoors. He was in a big hurry to get away from me, but I caught the little guy using a plastic shoebox lid and handed the lid to the husband, who let him out the back door.

Do I have a fun life, or what?

Best news of the month:

The first car we purchased as a brand new vehicle was still on our driveway, two weeks ago. Six years after my husband decided it wasn't worth repairing, it sat covered in mold, the tires flat. The big dilemma was, "How on earth are we going to get rid of that thing?" Then, one day our delightful postal worker (who has a terrific sense of humor and frequently jokes about my books weighing down his truck) mentioned that he had a friend in desperate need of a vehicle. "He repairs cars," he said. "I'll bet he can get it to work." I told him the car has been dead for quite some time and I really just wanted to get it off my driveway. Send him over, if you think he's interested.

Two days later, a man and his wife showed up at our house. He was limping dramatically and wore a back brace. "Broke my back," he said. "The wife needs a car and I'm on unemployment, so I can't give you much, but I'm a mechanic and I can probably fix it if it's not too bad. Can I look at your little white car?" He looked it over, handed me $50 and came back with a truck, a rope and a pump to fill the tires . . . and dragged it away. The next week, my postman said, "He fixed it and they're driving it around. They had a borrowed car and were really desperate." Hours later, my husband and I saw our little Nissan up ahead of us on a road bordering our neighborhood. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we were to see that car working and in use by someone who truly needed it. What a terrific feeling.

Should I count the car as one item removed? Yes, I do believe I will.

Happy, positive, clutter-free thoughts!

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