Learn a Life Lesson from it and It’ll go Away!

Your clutter has something important to tell you.

If you follow a religion, do you think the guy who started yours had too much stuff? Of course he didn’t. Jesus, Moses, Mohamad, Buddha, Krishna, none of them was bothered by owning too much stuff! So here you are today, sick of your clutter, trying to find peace and joy in your day, as you fight over clutter, look for it, stash it, rearrange it, dust it, and cage yourself in chaos and frustration.

Your clutter will continue to get in the way of your peace until you learn a very important life lesson, letting go.   Here’s an excerpt from my latest book, The Joy of Being Disorganized:

Our lives are hectic in this 21^st century, which makes establishing peace in our homes more of a necessity than ever. We need a sanctuary from the frenzy. When our homes make us feel safe and cozy, they become a refuge where we can recharge our spirits that can get pulled in so many directions out in the world.

Peace is a personal matter. What defines peace for me may not come close to your definition. When I think of peace, a lot of “R” words fly around in my mind—like release, rejuvenate, refresh, relax, and rest. Whatever your definition of peace, consider that you are not just a homemaker or a housekeeper, you are a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. The tone of your home rests in your hands. That’s a tall order, but when you reduce the clutter in your home, it’s much easier to keep the peace.

You have the right to live in it “joy” fully and “peace” fully.

Family members don't pick up after themselves? This FREE game will stop that!

Have you heard about the SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) 3x5 get organized system for your home and life?

It certainly has had resurgence in popularity in the last few months! It’s an amazing 3x5 cardfile system and millions have successfully set it up including Flylady.  

If you set up the SHE system and it worked for you and your family, but then you quit using it, YOU’RE NORMAL! Nobody sticks to anything forever; it’s just not possible unless you’re a librarian.Things happen. Life happens. And by your very nature, you get sidetracked by those “happenings,” and life presses you on and pulls you in many directions.

Here’s a video clip of Flylady telling about how successful she was with the SHE get organized system when her child was young and then what happened.

Is your kitchen streamlined, efficient and a joy to cook in? A couple of weeks ago, I took you on a pity trip and so many of you went with me! I loved all your responses and I think the “trip” helped many pare down the contents of their clothes closets! You all are so fun! If you didn’t take the pity trip with me and if your clothes closet contains more than what you love and wear today be sure and read my blog, Let’s Take a Pity Trip .

Today I’m throwing a pity party and I hope you’ll have one too.This exercise is designed to help you dejunk your kitchen. Let’s pretend we’re going to throw a huge dinner party, only, just like on the pity trip you have to pretend you’re disadvantaged and this party is going to be as wretched as you can make it. 

You’ll be Serving Bad Food

First, you’ll need to search in the cupboards and freezer for old food. You know any cans or packaged products with words like “best by 7/14,” and frozen stuff you don’t recognize (and never will). Of course all the bad food needs to go in the garbage, but there’s nothing stopping you from pretending you’re going to make a giant and disgusting casserole out of all of it for the big pity event. 

Second, you’re going to look at all your serving dishes with new eyes. Are there bowls, and plates that you never use, not even during the holidays? Are your glasses foggy from age? A good way to look at your stuff with new eyes is to pretend you’re at a thrift store and ask yourself, as you look at each plate, bowl and glass, “would I buy this?” See if you can fill a big garbage bag with kitchen utensils, silverware, glasses, mugs, chipped bowls and plates, and pans you haven’t used since 7/05. 

On the 4^th of July of this year, Terry and I had a dinner party for two other couples. As I was looking in my kitchen cupboards with entertaining in mind, I realized there were so many serving pieces I just don’t use anymore and I promised myself that after the party, I was going to dejunk my kitchen of them. That’s when I decided to pretend to have a pity party. It helped me get to the bottom of why I wasn’t using a lot of what I passed over in preparing for the 4^th.

Go Backwards

Do  you ever wish your kids would simply hang up clothes or put them in the laundry rather than dropping them on the floor or tossing them over a chair?

If your kids are three to ten, the House Fairy can help you help your kids get chores done and get out to play.

Watch this short video and see if they like what the House Fairy has to say about helping Mom and Dad.

A week ago I posted a funny video clip from when Peggy and I were on the
Will Shriner Show.

It brought an avalanche of wonderful comments about how it brightened
people's day.

You can see it here.

http://blog.makeitfunanditwillgetdone.com/will-shriner-couldnt-believe-what-we-did-on-his-show

Because it struck such a nerve I thought I would show you a clip when we were 

on the Mike and Maty Show.  

I hope you enjoy it

An off-the-wall closet organizing project. It just might work for you.

When you see a photo like this, are you inspired to learn how to declutter and have an organized closet? 

What you wear takes up a lot of your energy and when your closet is constipated with stuff you don’t wear (for whatever reason), it becomes a gigantic IPOD (Important Pile of Decisions). Your closet is just like your garage if your car is parked in the drive-way.

What might surprise you is the pile of decisions isn’t a bunch of various decisions like when you have to file papers into a filing cabinet, because 90% of the stuff you’re not making a decision about just needs to go! Good-bye, ciao, ta ta, Cheerio, fairwell! How to de-junk is that simple! Let it go!

I’ve been helping people get the spark and motivation to declutter for almost 40 years and have come up with some very creative and fun ways to give you that spark. This one I’ll call Operation Pity Trip.

1. You are denying disorganization is affecting your life in a negative way.

2. You are comparing your organizational skills to reality show hoarders. 

3. You are blaming your family for the mess you’re in.

4. You are minimizing the problem and the gifts you possess to solve them.

In Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) it speaks of the four defenses an alcoholic uses while he/she continues to drink. In Get Your Act Together, I wrote how SHEs (Sidetracked Home Executives) use the same defenses to remain in a mess.

There is really no difference except for the outcome… drunk or disorderly.

Like an alcoholic, once a SHE stops using the four defenses, she is then able to change. Could one of these defenses be holding you back from the life you want to live?

Denial 

You probably don’t deny you’re in a mess, but I know when I was living in chaos, I acted like it didn’t bother me. Haven’t you heard the classic messy person’s excuse for a messy desk say, “I know where everything is on my desk!” Yeah right! Denial! 

I also remember a constant desire to get out of the house and go play. My three kids and I spent much of our time outside where I didn’t have to face the mess in the house. While at the park it was easy to deny I had a problem, but I always had to come home to the truth.

Rationalization

Why is it when we collect clutter we don’t want to let go once something is ours, and even though the four reasons I came up with are positive, the results of holding on are always negative.

1 Creativity

Because of our creativity, we often get things we think we’ll use, but end up not wanting to follow through with our clever thoughts. Often, we’ll keep something, just in case we’ll need it or can think up another use for it. I noticed when I was getting my gardening tools ready for spring, that I still have all the stuff I bought to bonsai some trees. I got the soil, the cutting tools, and the precise kind of planters for my bonsai projects. I was also on a honeymoon with the idea of having bonsai plants in my yard and gardens.

Six years ago, I took one lesson at Tsugawa’s Nursery that has the most beautiful bonsai trees I’ve ever seen. They’re master bonsaiers! Their little Christmas Village trees are way out of my price range! Who can pay $679 for a teeny, weeny cedar tree, even it is 216 years old?

Since I have old growth cedar trees that throw their babies everywhere on our property and I’m always pulling them up like weeds, I decided I’d start bonsaiing them! I should have known, I was in over my bonsai head, because I knew the people at this nursery are steeped in bonsai tradition, and it sure didn’t come naturally to me like it does to the Tsugawa’s.

I killed every one of my cedar victims, but did I get rid of my stash of bonsai tools? No, because in the back of my mind, I figured I just might get a Tsugawan urge to try again!

You’ll be glad to know I’ve boxed up the stuff and it’s on its way to the Salvation Army where it will soon be in the hands of someone who has a knack for miniaturizing trees.

2 Optimism

The Farewell Wearing Ceremony

Spring is what I call ex-husband season. Mine was always unpredictable and the only thing predictable about him was his unpredictability. Before you unconsciously store the warm sweaters, knits and jackets that are for colder days, to make room in your closet for your spring clothes, remember how ex-husbandy spring’s weather can be and join me in a few Farewell Wearing Ceremonies.

What’s a Farewell Wearing Ceremony? It was coined by my good friend Krista. She’s very organized and she always looks great in her clothes. I see her once a week because we sing in a chorus together. She shared with me this fabulous idea she partakes in regularly to keep her wardrobe reflecting just what she loves and therefore wears. I just had to tell you about it, before you unconsciously store your warmer clothes that perhaps have seen better days. 

Krista is always looking for items of clothing she doesn’t wear regularly (those articles in your closet or dresser drawers, you keep passing over for various reasons, ending up picking something you really want to wear). Say she chooses a sweater she hasn’t worn in a couple of months, she puts it on and wears it for the day. (She often wears such garments to our chorus rehearsals and had a jacket that was being worn for its Farewell Wearing when she told me about this.)

During the day of wearing the sweater, she remembers as much about it as she can; where she bought it or who gave it to her. She thinks about all the times she has worn it, and if there were special occasions, she pulls up specifics about those events and relishes the fun she had.

She also talks to it and thanks it for its service. 

 Saved by a Compliment