Emotional Aspects of Decluttering

Posted By Elaine ~ 7th February 2012

Simplifying takes Time and Effort and Emotional Energy

As the journey to Simplifying continues we are moving into the high traffic areas of the home; the kitchen, living and dining room. Rooms that for me have more sentimental items and from what I am feeling more emotional attachments.

Perhaps these things remind me of all the entertaining we have done, meals shared and memories created with family and friends. Some people collect purses, I collect memories. Entertaining is what I do…cooking, creating a mood, making people feel comfortable…and that all involves serving dishes, platters, cups & saucers. Dishes galore! 

We all have stuff, but as life moves on and changes this stuff starts to collect dust and as it outlives its usefulness. It becomes clutter when we keep it purely for the memories not for the functionality.

It takes more than Enthusiasm to let go of the Clutter…

Enthusiasm and a “just do it” attitude may not be enough to help you get through the painful aspects of letting go. This inability to let go can be paralyzing for many people and at times we need to take a deeper look at what is really holding us back.

It goes to those deep dark places where we have to acknowledge that we have made mistakes with large purchase items that we have never used. Having clothing that we have not been able to wear for years because we have not lost those last 10 pounds and having to come to terms with the grief and loss surrounding the death of a loved one. There is always pain as you let go however the pleasure of what is on the other side of that pile of clutter may be just what you need to focus on to keep you going.

As Anthony Robbins, the founder of the coaching movement says, “The truth is that we can learn to condition our minds, bodies, and emotions to link pain or pleasure to whatever we choose. By changing what we link pain and pleasure to, we will instantly change our behaviours”.Tony Robbins

Decluttering…Moving towards Pleasure and away from the Pain

Simply said, once you associate the process of letting go and decluttering with something pleasurable, it will be easier to let go. For example I had to address the pain I was experiencing with selling and leaving our family home and letting go of some (most of) of my grandmothers china. After acknowledging the pain then I needed to find pleasure, I did this by acknowledging that someone else will use Nanny’s china and enjoy it for many years. To be honest it has been collecting dust in the china cabinet for too many years. Also, the excitement of moving to a new home that is ‘right sized’ for our family is also pleasurable for so many reasons.

As you are tackling your own de-cluttering projects and the painful feelings surface, acknowledge them and then ask yourself if these painful feelings are moving you forward or holding you back.

As our family de-clutters to prepare for our new home the excitement of creating new memories is what keeps us all focused on living in the present and looking to the future instead of through the rear view mirror and living in the past.

This article is reprinted from KV Style article of Feb 03,2012