Does this pantry drive you nuts? It drives me nuts.

Every single day.

I mean look at all that stuff, one thing piled on top of another, and nothing  within reach. Several times a day, I open up the pantry and cuss at the chaos, pull out whatever I need, and then quickly rearrange the piles to keep them from tumbling out onto the floor before I close the pantry doors. I reminds me of a line I once heard from a stand-up comedian:

Sure I’d like to lose weight, but what can one man do?

So this morning, I decided to simplify my provisions–discard what needed discarding and arrange the rest so that what I needed would be right there before my eyes.

I think the most interesting thing about this task was not so much discovering what I didn’t need, but rather seeing just how much I had. I have so much tea! I really can’t see why I would need to buy another box or bag until I use up what I have. And the same goes for pasta, and rice, and crackers, and so on….

In comparing these two pictures, you may not see what looks like a radical change–and I suppose it’s not. I really tried not to discard anything that I could use to prepare a meal in the near future–but a little attention to arrangement has eliminated a daily frustration and simplified my food prep, if only a little.

Sure, I could have called today’s entry “organize,” but I like the word “provide.” This little exercise has helped me to attend to what I already have, and to see abundance in place of clutter.