CLUTTER! UGH! De-Clutter & Make Back-to-School a Breeze!

Clutter  That dreaded word.  Those two syllables and seven letters can create almost as much stress as the stuff itself.  I know I get a catch in my center just thinking the word. 

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “to clutter” as “to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness.”  There are also many synonyms for the word “clutter”:  mess, litter, disorder, confusion, untidiness, and muddle.  Can you feel it?

Grammatically, it can be used as a noun such as “Someday I will remove the clutter from my space.”  Or – it can be used as a verb such as “All this stuff is cluttering up my life.”  The origin of the word clutter is from England during the Middle Ages.  Its first known use was in 1556 as the word clotteren meaning “to clot”.  Ouch.

According to the Thesaurus, the opposite of clutter is SPACE.  Just seeing that word written feels better.  Even saying it aloud is like exhaling.  Spaaaace.  Ahhh.  Breathe in breathe out.  It is difficult to breath around clutter.

So – how does this clutter around us affect us?  Take a look around your home or office.  How do you feel?  Do you feel happy and content? Do you feel overwhelmed, agitated, irritable?  Do you love what you see?  Have you been trying to ignore how you really experience your environment, whether it is your home or your office?  Do you have trouble sleeping or concentrating at work?  Do your kids resist doing homework or going to bed?  It is difficult to focus or find things?  You are not alone.  Almost everyone has it in one form or another.  It may be that pile of newspapers that hasn’t made it to the recycle bin yet, the unfiled folders or pages of printed emails on the floor in the corner of your office.  It could also be those sheets you don’t really like sleeping on, or the socks with the hole no one can see except for you, or the chipped dishes, or the frayed towels, or the closets you try not to open, or the stuff hanging on the backs of doors.  After a while, you almost stop noticing.  Almost.  What’s a little more stuff when there is already so much stuff you are hiding from?

The fact is that clutter holds energy and energy doesn’t lie.  It won’t be ignored.  You can pretend not to be bothered by it, but you are affected whether or not you want to admit it.  It is like holding your breath under water.  Sooner or later you have to come up for air, or you have a problem.  Clutter is a problem that is both visible and invisible. 

In Feng Shui, your physical space represents the aspects of your physical and psychological self.  In other words, whatever is going on inside of you will show up in your space in one form or another.  I have found this to be very true for my clients and for me.  Clutter is like a blockage.  It stops the flow.  When your life is clogged with stuff that has outlived its usefulness, the entire process of life is stopped up, and you can’t move forward.  It has a physical and energetic life of its own, and only we give birth to it and keep it alive.  This does not contribute to the healthy happy self we want to be.

All of our stuff elicits some kind of trigger for us.  Like it or not, we are attached to our stuff.  It may be emotional, or sentimental, or just physical, but attached we are.  Look around.  Really look at your space from exactly where you are sitting at this moment.  If you cannot truly say that your space makes you feel good, then it is time to deconstruct.  It is time to walk through the fiery coals of the clutter.  It is time to restore you and your life to optimum running condition.  The only way to get there is to tame it or get rid of it – sell it – repurpose it – recycle it.  If you’re strong you can do it alone, and if not, hire a Feng Shui consultant or Professional Organizer to help you get through it.

In the end, the goal is to get breathing again.  Remember, the opposite of clutter is SPACE.  Ahhh.

Carol Pappas  Reinventyourstyle.com   carol@reinventyourstyle.com