In 2004, after a period of decluttering that changed my life, I started an organizing business. The period of decluttering included filling a 2-car garage with things to donate and consign (and finally clearing it out!), I began to see things differently during the process of letting go of stuff I didn’t actually like, didn’t serve a purpose or wasn’t necessary.
Well, the journey continues. Life is full and when you live with other people, there’s stuff and letting go is truly a process. Also, finding different ways to do things is also a process. For example, storing photos on a hard drive versus in boxes. Or scanning tax documents instead of storing the physical copies when my accountant also has copies!
Now I’m down to very little paper these days with the exception of one elephant in the storage closet! I’m about to take approximately 700 photos of that many scrapbook pages, which I spent hours and days working on. Ultimately this will lighten the load even more! Yes, 700 pages (with an average of 5 pictures per page) of memories.
Hard to believe that I spent that much time creating these beautiful books that will soon live on in the form of a photograph. If only technology was what it is today 20 years ago! (The long version of this story is too much to go into here, but let’s just say I was an overwhelmed mom trying to cope and this was a way for me to be creative, but still feel like I was doing something for my family.)
“Clutter is a physical representation of what’s happening in our minds. When we create calm in our minds, we will move toward wanting our surroundings to reflect the same thing.”
The other change I made recently is that I removed all remnants of work or memories from my bedroom. Even the closet (which is quite large and contained some memories that were stored in boxes) is now void of anything except clothing and a couple of suitcases. Between that and some work I’ve done on my beliefs about me and my life, I am sleeping so much better (either that or the diffuser I’m using is the bomb!).
So, what kinds of clutter can you remove from your life so you can rest easier, whether you’re awake or sleeping? Please share your comments below.
Even though I no longer do physical organizing, I still do consultations that address the clutter (and space issues), but also go beyond the clutter and address the actual “why” you’ve got it. It’s all good! Small steps equal big results. But I can tell you that lightening the load feels fantastic and makes space for all the things I used to say I didn’t have time to do!
