Every year around this time, I’m quietly in the midst of a major reset. It’s a physical interior recalibration that unfolds randomly yet thoroughly as uncommitted time becomes more available. The exercise is far from intentions and future plans I could be cogitating on and more about arriving to a moment where most everything in the house is refreshed.
It has a deadline, too: December 31st.
This annual ritual has morphed into a bit of an obsessive necessity: a pass through the house to clear away the old to make way for the new. There are always a few deep dives (some go deeper than others) but they are all steps to the same destination.
The momentum starts innocuously by cleaning out the fridge, one shelf and drawer at a time. Year end holiday time in my household does not see a full fridge. Farmers markets are quieter, and my typical pace of cooking up a storm on weekends to prepare for the week ahead eases due to the pause in work. Time off translates to opportunities to eat out the freezer which is the logical next stop on my way through the house.
A review of assorted jars containing leftovers and chopped herbs determines what will and will not be an imminent meal or ingredient. Being reminded there’s homemade soup stock in the rear, the menu for later this week is set with the bonus side effect of freeing up space for fresh batches of broth in the coming months. If there’s too much freezer fuzz covering jar contents, out they go. Emptied of their once frozen holdings a few of the non-canning type of jars make it into the recycling bin while the remainder are washed and put away. An abundantly full equilibrium returns to the jar drawer. (Yeah, that’s a thing here.)
Shelf-stable foods are next with an eye for items that have been passed over for other options. The unopened rejects get carried off in a backpack and placed on a shelf in a free food pantry (think Little Free Library size) located nearby.
On another level this process is an opportunity to explore what’s being carried forward and why. Despite having a knack for clearing things out on a regular basis and feeling “done,” much to the amazement of my spouse, I find a way to identify more to get rid of. (And no, I’m not talking dust bunnies, but those are on the list!) The file drawer in my office is a logical next destination.
There are things we hold on to because we might need them or because they are sentimental, and that is all too true of papers for a tactile person like me. A selection of documents and old hand-written client notes I’ve been holding on to for a variety of reasons are ready to make their exit after being scanned and archived. I stop short of tossing 2020 tax documents. Those will wait until 2025 taxes are filed, and then they’re outta here! For now, a surprisingly thicker than svelte stack of paper leaves the premises to be shredded.
Filling birthdays and other important dates in the new weekly planner is one of those activities that lapsed for many years and just got reimplemented. Being a paper person also means new checkbook registers are at the ready. And holy moly, business receipts and expenses are sorted, tallied, and ready for the accountant.
The brain space unsatisfactory articles of clothing can occupy is real. A couple of pairs of pants that no longer make the cut and crowd the drawer they reside in, along with some random kitchen bits and bobs that deserve a new home, get shoved in a pannier and taken for a bike ride. Destination: Goodwill. There is exercise to be woven into these year end tasks!
Shifting the energy and removing the residue that lingers is last, but not least nor really last. (Did that work?) All surfaces and nooks and crannies get a thorough cleaning – stovetop, bathroom, floors (remember those aforementioned dust bunnies?), high corners (sorry spiders!), the toaster (bye-bye crumbs from November until now), and sink drains. In the days to come, sweeping the front stoop, emptying the compost, recycling, and trash bins, and doing a final load of laundry so everything is clean and reset are on the list. Freshly laundered bedding and towels are a must for the transition to a new year. Weirdly or not, a fresh bar of soap is queued up in the bathroom.
The grand finale will be emptying the email inboxes one last time before 2026 takes center stage. Achieving zero inbox is a satisfying and attainable thing for some of us, and more specifically the two of us who reside in this house. Go figure!
