Three Secrets for Dealing with Clutter

My client Kathy runs a very successful business that requires a lot of her time, so over the past few years she has not been able to keep up with the clutter at her home. Things just kept accumulating and it became quite an issue.  Clutter is a problem that to some extend all of us have to deal with these days!  Everyone has some amount of it, and while many learn to manage, for some it becomes a huge obstacle. This article was inspired to help Kathy and many others who are ready to do a round of decluttering.

My personal experience of moving frequently in my younger years, changing cities and countries, had taught me how to leave things behind.  But after settling down in my current home of 17 years, random stuff inevitably started piling up. It took some years of observing myself and others to fully understand the effects of clutter on our well being. I am not a clutter consultant but seeing so much of its negative impact in my feng shui practice has taught me a great deal about it and how to deal with it.

During our session, my clients get the necessary insights, a plan, and the motivation and energy to start decluttering.  After clearing out a few areas, energy starts to flow and it becomes easier to continue the process.  Once the space is reclaimed, we conclude by implementing feng shui recommendations to complete the transformation!  But sometimes more help is needed, so for some it is a good idea to work with personal organizer until things are under control.

My most significant personal experience with clutter happened during my last major remodeling round when everything had to be moved out of the second floor.  I’ve always thought of myself as a person who keeps clutter to a minimum so I was surprised by how much stuff had accumulated in my closets over the years.  There were things that I didn’t even know I still had because they were behind other things!  Among them were art purchases that didn’t work out, tons of my own photos and framing experiments, accessories that had since been replaced, lamps, pillows, and some random little things that had lost their meaning.  It was pretty obvious that I don’t need most of this, and I realized that this had actually been weighing on my subconscious for some time. There was a feeling of tension, irritation, disharmony, heaviness and even guilt that I could now attribute to the clutter.  So three quarters of this stuff never made its way back upstairs!

I have to admit that it wasn’t too easy getting rid of all of this, but I was ruthless and kept going.  Let me tell you, it felt really good at the end!  Actually, it felt incredible!  I loved the feeling of spaciousness in my closets and rearranged them in a way that made it possible to see everything.  I felt light, joyful and even younger.  And I felt in control because I knew what I had and where to find it.  Since then, I’ve developed the habit of going through my closets and drawers two or three times a year.  Now, I even crave the feeling of lightness that I get after a good round of decluttering and it doesn’t take much time at all.

Here are three guidelines that I’ve created for myself over the years. I hope they would be useful for you too:

Things in your home influence you.  Ask yourself how you want to feel and surround yourself with things that reflect and represent that.  Most of us want love, inspiration, joy, relaxation, prosperity, creativity, clarity, organization, harmony… you got the idea.  Let’s call it a certain sense of well being.  Whatever doesn’t represent that is clutter!

We change.  Our tastes develop and our goals shift as time goes by.  Look at your furniture, accessories and clothing and ask yourself: “Is this me or not me?  Does it reflect who I am today or who I want to be tomorrow?” Whatever doesn’t, is clutter!

Your home and the things in it are an extension of you.  So honor yourself by surrounding yourself with things you deserve, want and and love.  Everything else is clutter!

My work is based on the very simple principle that we are intimately connected with our environment and all the things in it, emotionally and energetically.  So we can shape how we feel by surrounding ourselves with things that represent how we want to feel.

Also read a blog article:  Transform Your Home into a Sanctuary with Feng Shui