For years Jeri had talked about writing poetry, and she had collected hundreds upon hundreds of poetry books, how-to guides, and an enormous amount of writing apparatuses. When I suggested she could open a small stationery shop, she laughed. Then we discussed the more serious side of things. Jeri had spent a lot of time and money collecting items that she believed would help make her a great writer. From all appearances, the contents of Jeri’s small apartment alluded to the idea that she was a fine writer or even a scholar. Yet the more Jeri collected, the less space she had to write. Her desk was unusable, since it was completely covered with books, paper, pens, journals, and highlighters. Jeri’s bookshelves were overloaded with books. Books were stacked on the floor and other flat surfaces, the couch, and in her bedroom. Most of her cabinets and drawers were filled to the brim with every possible writing tool imaginable. The more I looked around her space, the clearer the truth became: Jeri’s stuff was blocking her from writing and stomping out her dreams of becoming a prolific poet.
Jeri recognized that collecting and owning lots of stuff did not make her more creative. The thing Jeri valued most was self-expression, and she realized her focus was sharing her innermost thoughts about life, not collecting writing tools. By getting her goals straightened out and in clearing up her space, Jeri cleared a spot in her life for writing. She kept most of her stuff, both by utilizing the Clutter Remedy space-planning strategy and by adding a few more bookshelves and cabinets. Jeri kept everything that was useful, everything that served a purpose, sentimental items, and all the things she loved. Jeri’s place was whipped into shape, first by broadly categorizing everything she owned, then fine-tuning her items, and finally by finding the perfect containment and home for everything she cherished. Can you relate to Jeri’s situation by looking at what you’ve collected and never used? Is all the stuff you’re not using a sign that you are not “using” your inner gifts for loftier goals?
You can go out and buy gadgets, supplies, ingredients, manuals, equipment, electronics, information, and a surplus of products, but if you don’t use them, are they a diversion from fulfilling your dreams or a way to fill the emptiness you have inside yourself? Possessions and material objects are not the seeds for growth and development. You know those objects do not define you as a person. You know things don’t make situations you desire happen. Obviously, certain things are helpful, once you have the determination and know-how to accomplish your dreams and goals, but things don’t get you there, you do.
STUFF IS JUST STUFF
You know stuff is just stuff. It’s inanimate. It is not alive. Personal effects do not have thoughts or feelings, but you may treat them like they do. Possessions can trigger feelings, but they do not create feelings within you. You know you want material objects around, otherwise you wouldn’t allow them in your space in the first place. If you didn’t love all your wares and worldly goods and you decided to live in an empty room with a minimal amount, I guarantee over time you would start to miss the things you once cherished. But you know the big stuff in life is not stuff. The big stuff in life is loved ones, health, happiness, and living the best life you can.
Living with the basic essentials like a bed, lamps, chairs, a desk, a table, and a couch makes life livable, comfortable, and convenient. Living with shelves, cooking utensils, office supplies, kitchen and bath products, electronics, bedding and towels, toys, and hobby stuff makes life functional, active, and settling. Owning books, trinkets, jewelry, knickknacks, artwork, collections, clothes, and accessories creates an aesthetically pleasing, interesting, and special life. You love stuff for a reason; so there is no reason, at all, to struggle and stress over stuff — ever.
Cluttered environments are not caused by laziness, but rather the lack of a personal, proven strategy. Knowing how to decipher what is important and what is not, by using the Clear and Concise Criteria, prevents clutter from piling up and allows it to be easily processed. The most important thing about conquering clutter, and organizing mounds and pounds of stuff, is having a way to declutter easily, quickly, and efficiently. You don’t want to be looking for things you want to use; you want those things quickly and easily. You want your stuff when you want it, in a timely manner, so you will be on time for appointments, events, and meetings. You want things at your fingertips, or at the very least at arm’s length, to feel confident and at peace walking out the door or to be spontaneously creative. Your stuff is not supposed to be mysterious — lurking around corners, under the bed, hunted down, or hidden. Your stuff is supposed to be categorized, cherished, and in a special home all of its own.
In cluttered environments, it is near impossible to concentrate on the things that are important to you. The quandary over stuff mostly stems from not knowing and identifying what you value, what to keep, and how to store it all. Solving those three things ends your struggle with stuff immediately. The “tug of war” with stuff starts when things can’t be found, when things start to pile up, and when your space becomes full of unruly landmines.
I know you’re eager to get decluttered, but before you jump into all of the aerobics involved in space organizing, consider revealing to yourself how you created the clutter in the first place so you will stay organized long-term. Getting decluttered and having your space über-organized is not rocket science, but staying organized for good is. It takes some effort to look into your inner self and to cope with and emit any emotional clutter that is perpetuating outer clutter. Delving into your inner processes lights up your path to clarity.
DEVELOPING AN ENLIGHTENED INNER SELF
Organizing your inner self and your well-being is about the removal of any negativity, past wounds, and emotional blocks, coupled with becoming healthy and authentically happy, with a great attitude, and optimal communication skills. When your inner self is not organized, and you are without a clear sense of being, your surroundings will always be chaotic. That being said, no matter how disorganized you are, you will be able to get organized with insight into your inner self.
Even the most organized people have blips into a disorganized state but will recover quickly by noticing and rectifying self-defeating cluttering behavior. Perhaps the self-defeating behavior starts by placing a reminder on a bare kitchen counter, then a magazine finds its way on top of the reminder note, followed by collections of random and unrelated items. Meanwhile, a large lump of clothes begins to grow on the bedroom chair, waiting to be relocated to the closet. So, when you personally start to get wayward, something is more than likely going on with you internally for this ungovernable chaos to rise up. You will not eliminate moments of disorganization, but by having a specific home for everything you own and using the strategies and the steps you’re going to learn, you will recover to an organized state quickly and with ease.
A systemic approach for a satisfying space, and understanding your stuff, is achieved by connecting to your inner self, dreams, interests, and goals, and learning to symbolize aggregated collections. Once you realize the deeper meaning to everything you own, what you love to do in life, and what makes life worth living, then, and only then, will you know what “good” stuff to keep around versus what is simply clutter. Your life purpose helps you understand what material objects are useful, purposeful, sentimental, and loved. Investing in a peaceful, tranquil, orderly, and sustainable strategy for decluttering comes from being self-aware and patient with the changes that will take place. The physical aspect of getting organized happens rapidly, yet the preparation internally takes thoughtfulness, tenacity, and strategizing. Ultimately, revealing to yourself what you love to do in life will help you understand what you love about your stuff versus what is simply cluttering your life.
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