Pull things away from their resting places and you will suddenly see the dirt that has gathered on and in and around them while you were busy with something else. That is the truth of neglect, whatever its source. Look, though, at the spaces you uncover that are pristine. They are the truth, too. The [...]
clearing my psychic clutter
And now, over a week into this little adventure, we come to the question of “why.” Why spend one’s time weeding through old objects, rather than working on creating new ones? Why toss what there is room to keep? What one might need, sometime, later on? What is a perfectly good book/recipe/dress/idea/your-clutter-here? For me, I [...]
The hardest book reviews to write are about the books that, for whatever reason, make your heart beat most wildly. These may not even be the books you enjoy the most; you may enjoy these books least of all, if that makes any sense. The things that touch you are not necessarily elegant nor exquisitely [...]
From the almost universally stunned reactions to my current wave of decluttering, especially around the family photos, which started last week, I’m feeling that perhaps stepping back just a bit to review my own process with this process of unloading stuff in general and really sticky stuff in particular. First, because it cannot be reiterated [...]
I remember a story my first shrink-slash-astrologer told me about the sticky and useless nature of stuff. She and her partner, who worked a Big Corporate Job, and had to move around for it, relocated to a spot which shall be unnamed, but that neither of them wanted to spend a hot minute in longer [...]
One of my frustrations with traveling is this fear I’m gripped with, usually just before zipping the bag to go, that I’ll: arrive ill-prepared for whatever climate (temperature and social) I’m traveling to arrive without some critical doodad necessary for my immediate survival arrive exhausted and disheveled from having to haul around too much You [...]
If you had told me even a week ago that one night in the frighteningly-not-distant future I’d be standing in the showroom of an El Segundo boutique, letting a stand-up comic talk me into heaving photographs of my parents into the trash can, I’d have laughed in your face. As politely as I could, but [...]
What lies beneath the layers of dirt the notes the clothes the ideas we gather around us is the truth: No more. No less. This used to be white. This used to mean something. This once thrilled me so I chose it from among all other things to live for that moment in my home, [...]
This is Day 2 of a 21-Day Saluteâ„¢ devoted to addressing the physical (and attendant intangible) clutter in my life. To read the entire series in reverse chronological order, click here. To read about this 21-Day Saluteâ„¢ thing, click here. A very wise fellow you’ll be hearing a lot more about over the course of [...]
It is all very well and good to go on mad tears through your household, weeding out that which is no longer useful and beautiful, and passing it along to its next stop on the train, a person, a holding bin for persons unknown (a.k.a. Goodwill, Out of the Closet, the consignment shop, etc), the [...]
