August

It is a funny thing, the things we keep…

I find it very interesting, and sometimes bizarre, although those are the thoughts I keep to myself, the things, the stuff that people hang on to for years. Over the summer months, we have organized clients who are moving and going places, hoarders who will never leave their house, and we’ve offered some personal assistant services to several. Every story is different and what is important to one client is not to the next and then, so goes life. No matter who has come into our journey of business, every single one is exceptional in one way or another. Some because they handle 5 children under the age of 5, and others for the energy, time and worry they have for their “stuff”. Any parent that stresses over the house being organized with five or more children, has to be 95% saint or crazy, yet you have called, out of desperation in a time when life was a little overwhelming.

There is a term I use frequently that is “ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT”. As it is, I hear about every reason or excuse why a client has something. Let me give you an example; a sweet little lady that we came across recently, had a small kitchen, but one drawer exemplifies my point. As we were organizing the kitchen, I opened the top drawer and found this.

I have no idea how many rubber bands were in the drawer, but her comment was, “See, you can see how long I’ve been taking the newspaper.” The problem with this is, that most of the bands were not functional any longer, and there was not a need for rubber bands, period. The excess rubber bands took up valuable drawer space, and it really doesn’t matter how long one was subscribed to the local newspaper. If I break all of this down further, the importance of reading the newspaper is to gain knowledge, to educate ourselves, and possibly to use for packing or in a litter box after being read.

Another photo from this house goes something like this:

I can laugh, with my clients, because even the best storage places, tell the truth. We organized this little kitchen, but clearly, there was no cooking or baking going on. I don’t blame her, cooking for one is as easy as calling for delivery. Why mess up the pots and pans for food for one? I get it, yet the reality is, we’re not cooking in this house. The oven stores only God (& Consider It Done) knows what. The papers were all old and everything else that the oven held inside were donated. So here is my soapbox…

KEEP ONLY WHAT YOU ARE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN

Just because you have bookshelves full of gardening books, it doesn’t make you a gardener. Or a pantry full of cookbooks doesn’t make you a chef, or even an average meal maker. I have heard it all, “well I used to cook a lot”, or “I was a teacher thirty years ago” or “I kept those knitting projects because I thought I would finish it”. So, it is time to get real with yourself, if what you used to do or had good intentions of or talents that you once had, does NOT make up what you spend your time doing this very day, then it is time to reevaluate why you are still hanging on to the stuff. Letting go of the past frees you. It gives you space to be who you are today. Realize and be honest with who you are, because that YOU, is important, and who you were fulfilled its purpose then. Who you are now, shows maturity, growth, and wisdom. You have time and energy that you could share with your husband or children, or community, instead of always tripping over the clutter and stressing that someone might stop by the house and see your disaster. If your children are over fifteen, do not, let me repeat, DO NOT, finish the hand knitted baby sweater you have been hanging on to. The facts are that teachers today use such different things in their classrooms than they did thirty years ago. You cook differently than you used to, and your hands and mind can’t paint anymore. There is no shame in any of that, but who are you now, is someone that can share your experiences over a cup of coffee, about when you were a teacher, or you would rather die than let someone in your home? Could you teach me what you used in your art pieces, or are they buried in among-st the clutter? Live the life you have today, not the one you had in the past or in your wildest intentions. Be real about who you are and what you want your life to be. There is only one reason you can’t have that, and that is YOU. Have a goal to have friends over for coffee or dinner in a month, and you will motivate your self to have a place that works for you, not against you.

In my own journey, I want to make your life better,

Lori