I am just like most people, living and striving, gathering and planning. Somehow, in all of my living and planning I have found this thing called clutter. Some very "heavy and awkward" possessions have followed me and weigh continually on my mind and poke at my heart.
Where did all this STUFF come from anyway? What is this thing called clutter?
Going through life, just in the living, it seems people (most of us, not all) tend to find special items and cling to them, or squirrel them away. Certainly they are valuable to us at that moment we decide to "just keep it for now". The memory of the place, the people, the love and dreams we held. Or, the frugal bean counter, tallying all that we have spent and "knowing" that these things we have chosen to keep are "valuable".
How can treasuring and keeping all of these things be wrong? It isn't wrong. It's our nature to hold on to those things that we feel provide safety and comfort and hope. Items that will "save the day" or be there "just in case". Tokens of days and years past that remind us of the bonds we have created with our loved ones, friends and coworkers, and our need to keep them close, safe and available for connecting with any of them when we find ourselves feeling lost, lonely or afraid.
And then, all of a sudden, (as in my own experience) we feel like we are drowning. Choking on excess; lost in piles and boxes and bins and closets and even rooms that have somehow become malevolent. The weight of so much stuff. The burden of so many items that we have become the curators of, as if we owned a grand museum filled with priceless artifacts. My own reaction vacillated between just becoming a hobo, burning everything or drowning in despair. After all, shouldn't I be preserving all of these precious artifacts if I truly cared? Wouldn't I be seen as irreverent, selfish or just plain unorganized if I couldn't maintain this simple level of management?
Have you been there too?
These things that were precious have become a weight so heavy that it seems we can never find our way back to simpler times. It felt that way for me. But, it doesn't have to stay this way.
When the things that we have collected, preserved, bagged, boxed, binned, stored, saved, and "made room for" become tyrants in our minds, we have lost control of the stuff. The stuff has taken an insidious control over us.
This is that thing called CLUTTER.
Uncluttering ME was established for freeing the hearts and minds of those who have experienced this overwhelming burden that comes from clutter in our lives. We can all find freedom from this tyrant and have spaces, homes, offices and lives that are free from the burdens associated with all of this stuff. By facing the overwhelming piles or even the thoughts that our clutter provokes, we can make changes and find our way to freedom. There is a way to get it all under control and find balance, real peace and let go of the guilt and fear.
One space at a time, the clutter can be defined, reduced and eventually managed so that life is not spent with anxious worries brought on by all of our "stuff".
Consider your space, your stuff and whether or not you are living in a self-made tyranny of things. You can be free again.
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