SPRING CLEANING: THE COFFEE CUP DILEMMA by Yvonne Saxon

What is it about Spring that gives so many people the urge to throw open the windows, wash and sweep and declutter? Advertisements for cleaning supplies, brooms, mops and vacuums are everywhere! Freshen up! They say. Get rid of the old, the dusty, the unused, they say. It’ll be fun! They say.  Now I have no problem with the idea of giving the  house a deep clean—if you want to volunteer call me!  My difficulty comes when I’m bombarded with messages that tell me  I’ll feel better when all my possessions are sharing space in a landfill. Like my coffee cups. Who decides how many coffee mugs are too many, anyway?

If you ask my husband, he’ll say three: three per person, that is. He has this idea that you’re drinking out of one, one’s in the dishwasher and one’s in the cabinet. What about coffee in the morning, an afternoon chai with a friend, and a comforting cocoa with that tear-jerker movie at the end of the day? You’ll be snatching everyone else’s mugs!

The number of cups could reflect the range of emotions you might be feeling at any given beverage-consuming time. The pretty florals and the brightly colored ones are great for those upbeat, “it’s going to be a wonderful day” mornings. Souvenir mugs are for when you want to remember a place or plan a getaway. Those funny sayings on the side of your cup? Perfect for helping you smile when you’re down, like “I don’t have a problem with caffeine, I have a problem without it!” (Was someone trying to tell me something when they gave me that one?)

And then there are the Christmas mugs. A few years ago it was pointed out to me that I might need to cull a mug or two from the Christmas mug cabinet. (Yes, they have their own cabinet!) I had to face reality. The container, aka “the cabinet” was full. Overstuffed even. With that cabinet, you were taking your life in your hands by opening the door! So I put ALL the coffee cups out, not just the Christmas ones, and counted. I didn’t really have that many, did I? they covered the counters, the stove, a couple of tray tables. Final count? Ninety-five. Wow! How did that happen? Well, anyone who knows me, knows I like coffee. So the mugs roll in for birthdays, Christmas, teacher’s gifts, trip souvenirs, you name it. Obviously, I’ve never met a mug I didn’t like!

The purge began. To be kept on team Coffee Mug, a cup had to have beautiful coloring, be hand made pottery, a saying that made me smile every time I looked at it, had to be a gift that made me feel loved or comforted when I used it, and large enough to hold at least 14 ounces of coffee. Forty-four made the cut. It may seem like a lot, but there’s room in the cabinet for them, so don’t go looking for me on episodes of “Hoarders!”

Spring clean, refresh your surroundings, and keep the items that mean something to you. If you ever come by for coffee, I’ll have a mug for you!

What do you collect? Do you “spring clean” or declutter items in your collection?