Decluttering, But More...Really, "Blasting Open Your Creativity"!

I just read a great book last night about decluttering---"It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh. It only took me about two hours, but it really had an impact. Hubbie (the one recovering from a heart attack) worked until midnight. So had an unexpected chance while I was waiting up for him to read this life-changing (yes, truly) book. For those of us in the Finding Water community, decluttering can be vital to opening up the creative process. I am very excited about doing this in my home and plan on accomplishing it during our twelve-week program. Or at least getting an incredible start. Especially after reading this book and understanding how to make the physical environment of my home compatible with the vision I have for how I want to live my life. I'm very psyched!

Here's my Amazon review:

Great Book for Everyone to Read Before Attempting To Declutter, March 6, 2007 *****
What I found most valuable with this outstanding book was that it was about the motivation behind excess accumulation and cluttering. Unless you address this motivation, the clutter is bound to come back, even if you hire a professional organizer and everything in your home is perfect. All of the clutter will creep back.

There are so many outstanding points in this book. For example, with sentimental-type clutter, the author says that the most important thing is to separate the memory from the item. Then the item can be dealt with appropriately. You are not discarding the memory, just the item. Thus, if you have an overabundance of momentos, you can divorce the memory from the item, pick a few items that you want to represent the memory and truly honor them by displaying them in your home (rather than storing them in boxes in your garage), and discard (or digitally scan and then discard) the rest.

In my house, my husband has a wealth of pictures of his children when they were small. These pictures are filling boxes in the garage and our barn. We have all of their schoolwork and many personal items because he loves his children and feels as though throwing away one of their things is throwing away a part of them. They are now adults; however, until this underlying motivation for hanging onto things is addressed, all attempts at decluttering will be futile. For me, the whole book was profound. I'm great at organizing techniques, but the idea of looking at the feelings and problems sourcing the whole hoarding behavior was most helpful.

I am getting ready to declutter my house, as we are bursting at the seams and can no longer function well in our home. This is the perfect book to read to understand the emotional work and the letting go that must go on so that the process of decluttering can take place. Then whatever vision and purpose you have for your home can be implemented, and you can enjoy the space you have in your home. The book targets a huge consumeristic flaw in our American culture, and gives solutions.

I cannot imagine who would not benefit from this important book. Highly recommended.
*****

Ok, so THIS IS NOT PRIMARILY ABOUT DECLUTTERING! It is really, truly, about letting go of your stuff and being free to create and change and grow. It is about being in the present. It is about creating space for whatever vision you have for your life. And really...your "stuff" can hold you back and hold you down.

If anyone else has read this, let me know. I'm looking for an accountability partner here. Maybe we can support each other in creating a space to support the lives we want to have.