As the year is drawing to a close, I have been going through journals, cleaning out closets and files, and realizing what a good year it has been. As many writers do, I read a lot this year. I read as if I had been starving, devouring one book after another. I read a lot of fiction and also read a lot of inspirational books. Reading through the pages of one of my pocket journals, I found a list I had made about types of clutter. focused on household clutter. This article focuses both on household clutter and clutter specific to artists and writers.
I read Gretchen Ruben's The Happiness Project, and was impressed by her ideas about the different kinds of clutter that take up space in our lives. Ruben categorized clutter into the following categories:
1. Nostalgic clutter-Knick knacks, old clothes, letters, and the like. If you're like me, much of what I have in boxes, drawers, and on shelves, are bits of nostalgic stuff. Some nostalgia is probably just fine, but when my mug collection grew out of proportion, I realized it was time to give some away. Releasing nostalgia also helps us release the energy attached to people, places, and times that are from our past. If we need to hang onto it for some reason, as I do items connected to my Mother or my Daughter, it's a good idea to be aware of what it is you are holding onto. If, for example, the nostalgia is really connected to guilt or sadness, it might be a good idea to consider letting it go. Nostalgia clutter for writers and artists may include partial plans or thoughts about a project that really enlivened you ten years ago, but has somehow lost its thrust and importance. It may be good to acknowledge the ideas, plans, or projects that are no longer alive. Burn the plans, and let it go, knowing if it was meant to be, it will rise from the ashes in the future. For now, releasing an outworn idea lets the energy flow more freely into current projects and ideas. Many writers and artists have burned pages of manuscripts, painted over works of art, or cast aside projects that just never got their wings. If you're uncertain about how good you might feel letting a project go, try it on a small scale, and work up to the more energy-consuming ideas that you're hanging onto.
2. Conservation clutter-While the phrase, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," may be a familiar refrain, I still tend to amass certain items thinking I'm the one who has to use the 25 empty glass jars, or 30 canvas bags. My daughter rightly calls me the bag lady because of all the canvas bags I have. I now have started giving them away when I donate clothes to the thrift shop or food to the food bank. As for the glass jars, I do store dry goods (beans, rice, cereal, spices) in glass jars. I also do some canning, but I limit the number I keep on hand to one shelf in my pantry. I've recycle coat hangers, limiting my closet to a few extra, and I donate my paper bags to my cousin's clothes bank and use my plastic sacks for garbage. A good rule of thumb: If I haven't used something in the last two years, I'm probably going to be able to live without it. I've learned to let go of packing boxes; I now keep them in circulation. Last week I gave my last few boxes away to a neighbor who is moving. Not only did I get rid of some nostalgia clutter that was in the boxes, I got rid of the boxes and now have empty shelf space.
Writers and artists often save every scrap of writing, notes, sketches, photographs, research, and note cards from every project they've ever worked on it seems. I know this is something I do. When I started using a computer, I not only saved hard copies of everything, I also saved electronic copies and copies of copies (it's so easy to duplicate on a computer). Recalling the tediousness of typing on a manual typewriter, having to start over if I made a mistake because there was no erasable paper of white out (not as archaic as the manual typewriter), and having to worry about losing my only copy of a paper or manuscript, led to my tendency to make more duplicates than I'll ever need. Right now with my photography, I am busily cleaning clutter from my files; admitting which shots are worth keeping and deleting the rest. It is an act of courage to let go of some of the clutter we keep that is attached to our art. Also cleaning out files on my computer hard drive. It's important for creative people to admit that not every idea is a good idea, and not everything we create will stand the test of time. This is especially true for photography where I take maybe 100 photos for every truly good photograph I take. And that may be a generous estimate.
3. Bargain clutter: Hopefully, you're not a fool for a bargain. It's no bargain if you have no earthly use for it. Safeway is a giant trap of 10 for $10...but who needs 10 tubes of tooth paste or 10 cans of beans soaked in brine? Be smart about bargains, and avoid filling your cupboards and garage with items you don't really need or use. The bargains that writers and artists get seem to come via the electronic media often. Newsletters, or bargain workshops to increase your skills as a writer or improve your marketing capacity. Coupons from the stationery stores with offers of 50% off if you only spend $75. Now if you need paper and office supplies, this might be a great deal. If you don't, it's no bargain, and you probably don't have room for more of anything in your office anyway. Trust me, there will be a sale or an offer or a workshop when you need one or are ready to take one. The urgency we seem to feel about bargains, is fed by a sense of lack and may be something you want to consider when feeling impelled to take advantage of a bargain next time.
4.Freebie clutter: My favorite! It's free. I need it! No, I don't. I came home from a conference recently with, you guessed it, more canvas bags. Cheap magnets, key chains, pens, water bottles, and other junk do not need to come home with you. Just because something is free doesn't mean I need it or will every use it. So I say "no" to freebies. I think it's part of being mindful, and just not automatically saying "yes" when it would be better for me and the environment if I said "no thank you". Freebies online can clutter your computer hard drive and your mind. They also take up space and time. The free online newsletters, blog postings, and offers of free virtual classes, can be appealing, but rarely are worth the kind of time it would take if you responded to each one. I've found myself being very selective about what kinds of regular postings I sign up for. Writers and artists who tell me they have 345 emails to go through every day....well the thought gives me a headache. I whittle down the number of messages that I'm willing to receive, and regularly go through and sort out the online subscriptions and lists I've gotten on. Don't get me wrong, there are some really good blogs and newsletters, and I generally trust my cadre of fellow writers and artists to recommend some of the better ones. C.Hope Clarke, for example, a writer who maintains a blog to help other writers, sends a weekly newsletter that I just can't wait to read. My suggestion would be to be selective and to regularly weed out those items that take up too much time and space in your life. It's like watching too much television....it becomes a distraction from your real work.
5. Crutch clutter. When I got in the car to move back to Oregon, my daughter gave me the Boot I had from breaking my ankle, saying, "Just in case you need this." So the Boot traveled with me for a few months, until I recycled it. My thought was, I'm not going to carry this around just in case I break my ankle again. I don't want to be attached to that thought. Thoughts can be crutches too, and some of the worst energy sappers. I recall when my father was rehabbing from an illness, and the different medical people responsible for making decisions for him, kept making decisions based on the idea that "he might fall." Not being one to give up, I kept on talking to doctors and social workers until I found a wise man, a doctor, who said, "Everyone falls. You can't base all your decisions on the possibility of falling." This belief freed my father from being stuck in between a nursing facility and a rehab facility where he could get stronger and eventually go home and continue taking care of himself. Our beliefs can be some of the most powerful crutches, keeping us trapped in mindsets that slow, impede or stop our creativity. Some people have a favorite sweater or shirt, socks or hat that they wear until it falls off of them. Or we keep something we needed at one point of our lives, but no longer use. Electronic stuff has become a kind of crutch clutter. I used to hang onto floppy discs, and old computers and keyboards "just in case." Crutch clutter generally has to do with the feeling that we might need something or that by hanging onto some object or piece of apparel, we somehow keep connected to a person or a time in the past. If you want to stay connected to the time or that person, at least be aware of the energy the connection is holding. Clutter is an energy drain, an unconscious attachment to things, ways of doing, or way of being. Our habits and patterns are often tied to stuff that keeps us connected energetically to outworn habits, behavior, relationships, and patterns.
Artists and writers have crutches too. Maybe it's coffee, or maybe it's a worn out piece of equipment or a chair that doesn't support you or your back. Whatever crutch you use that is no longer serving you, consider why you continue to keep it or keep doing it, and then consider how you might let go of it. For example, sometimes our craft becomes a crutch for avoiding a balanced life. We overwork, overdo, or overextend ourselves without realizing we have fallen into unhealthy habits. Not taking adequate breaks when we're working, not eating, resting, or exercising properly, or overindulging all
can be crutch habits. Or we use the chaos of our lives, relationships, or financial situations as excuses and distractions for not maintaining a regular work discipline and practice. Whatever you do that becomes a crutch--meaning you believe you can't operate without it-- needs to be addressed in order to maintain higher levels of health, productivity, and creativity.
6. Aspirational clutter: Here's a favorite of mine. I have two racquetball racquets in my closet taking up space until I find a partner and a racquet ball court. It's probably been 20 years since I've played, but I have the racquets. Hobby stuff can be aspirational clutter. Boxes of fabric, beads, or scrap book material, yarn, crochet patterns, old clothes you planned to make a rag rug with (yes, I have plans to make my own rag rug some day....); a lot of aspirational clutter. We think we'd like to take up a hobby or pastime. We buy all the ingredients, equipment, and paraphenalia, and never really get around to doing anything with it. You might want to reexamine your aspirational clutter, and give some of it away to an organization that might actually use it. Teachers, parks and recreation departments, shelters for women and children, or even assisted living facilities might have a use for some of the perfectly good stuff you have. For artists and writers, aspiration clutter may include projects, ideas, pieces of writing that take up a lot of mental energy but somehow never get off the drawing board. At some point, it might help to prioritize all your projects to see what matters most and what could be let go. When I make out a list of projects I'm working on and the list entails enough work to last 5 lifetimes, I know I need to get real about what matters most. This time of the year is a perfect time to write down your priorities, and project the kinds of time, resources, and commitment you'd like to make for the top priority projects in the next year or two. This will make you more efficient, free your mental and physical energy, and allow you to focus more fully on what you are doing and creating.
7.Buyer's remorse clutter: How about that kelly green mohair jumper or the too big or too small outfit hanging in the back of your closet? You know what I mean. That outfit you bought in a fit of insanity, or the appliance you got talked into "needing" by a slick salesperson? It's happened to all of us. We get something that we buy when our hormones are raging or when we're desperate to spend the money we have. Either take it back if you can, sell it at a garage sale, put it on ebay or Craig's list, or, if a else fails, donate it. Let it go. Last fall when I had a little extra money, I got talked into signing up and paying for an online service I neither needed nor wanted. I must have been at a weak ego level, because the saleswoman used the deadly duo, flattery and guilt, to get my money. When the glitzy packet arrived, and I saw whose company it was that I had paid my hard-earned cash, I felt ridiculous. I realized I had made a big and costly mistake. There was no way I was going to recoup my losses, so I have accepted the fact that this is a loss and a lesson for me. Some things really are too good to be true, and sometimes, I can fall for a sales pitch I would never have imagined I could. Admitting it here, doesn't take the sting of the loss away nor does it help me answer the question, How could I let this happen?" You may be able to tell, that this kind of mindset ties up energy and time, and unless there is some recourse, it better put to rest. Let it be a lesson learned. It's taken up enough of my money and other energy, so letting go of the feelings that come with making bad choices, can be relieving if we recognize how this interferes with and affects our lives.
So why does it matter that we classify our clutter? Clutter takes up space not only in our homes, garages, cars, and offices, but also in our minds and personal energy. Clutter blocks our flow of energy, and more importantly, I believe, clutters our minds and physical body with connections to what is no longer part of our lives now. At the very least, every time you walk by and notice a piece of clutter, it takes your attention and focus away from more interesting and present matters. At its worst, different types of clutter make it difficult for us to get free of unwanted, outworn, and dead energy connections. As you get ready to turn the page on a new year, consider letting go of some of the clutter in your life so you start the new year with more energy and focus to do what really gives you life. Clutter is as much a state of mind as it is a physical phenomenon. For artists and writers, clutter of all types, blocks creativity, inspiration, productivity, and physical/mental/emotional energy. Assess your clutter as you end the year, and start the new year off by being more mindful of where clutter is and how you can release energy blocks by removing some of the clutter from your life.
As I conclude this article, am thinking about a conversation I had recently with a local businessman. We had been talking about credibility and identity. I started to questions whether or not I had done enough to establish myself in a particular area. He looked at me, and said, you have already established yourself; now it's time to produce. I realized in that moment that one of the crutches I've kept with me for many years is the idea that many women have, and that is, "I've never quite done enough or whatever I do, I could be a little more prepared or educated or practiced..." yada, yada ,yada, And then it hit me how much our perfectionist beliefs clutter up our thinking and our lives, keeping us from creating and taking risks and doing something. Instead, that clutter keeps us sitting our hands and holding in our dreams, imaginations, and art. Time to let that kind of thinking go....Out with the old, in with the new. Happy end to 2011, and start to 2012!
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