Look around. Room check. Some of your spaces may be seemingly crowded. But imagine that there’s a chance that some of the clutter that’s hanging around just might be irrelevant to you now. Wouldn’t that make it easier to part with?
So let’s start there. It’s hard enough to manage and organize all the things that we are currently using, so let’s go the easy peasy route first. Here’s the long and the short of it;
Assess the now. Time changes us and we continually evolve. And so it would make sense that even the clutter should align with our current lifestyle and priorites. Let go of those things that no longer provide value, any longer. Above all, don’t feel bad about it. You can make space for new things to enjoy.
Recently inspired from a colleague’s interview with Erin Rooney Doland, author of Unclutter Your Life in One Week, I’ve realized that so many of us hold onto things we’ve outgrown. It’s simply there because, it just is. Ignored, neglected, perhaps even invisible, but probably for good reason. It’s just not that important to us anymore.
Here’s a great way to think about letting go of the insignificant. Erin refers to clutter like a bad book you don’t want to read anymore, it’s OK to let it go. Just because you bought it, that doesn’t mean you have to torture yourself to finish it. If it no longer interests you, no need to keep it. It’s just taking up unnecessary space and certainly not deserving of prime real-estate in your home. Apply this simple thinking to all of your possessions. Are they a good “match”? Do they still “fit”?
My favorite depiction of how personal change impacts our values is in Erin’s claim that “one day, a pair of earrings can be your go-to piece of jewelry. You’re a little heartbroken if one earring goes missing from the pair. Two years later, the same pair of earrings is taking up space in your jewelry box and you wouldn’t even remember it was in there. The object hasn’t changed, but how you value it has.” How true. We are indeed capricious.
Time is the operative word for just about everything. Time can ‘manage’ us, time can ‘heal’ us, and time can also ‘change’ us. With the passage of time, we all evolve, and so our priorities shift along with us too. Hence, our clutter changes and so does its significance in our lives.
Have you checked your clutter lately? Ask yourself if it reflects who you are today. We’ll talk about organizing it all another day, another blog 🙂
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