What Is Your Stuff Telling You?

When I’m alone in my home, surrounded by my stuff, my stuff speaks to me. I hear “I’m the photo that reminds you of happy holidays” or “I’m the glass dish in the colour you love” or “I’m the basket which keeps your magazines in order” and I feel content. Occasionally there is a discordant voice. It might say “I’m the saucepan you never use” or “I’m the shoes that make you feel guilty because they cost so much and don’t fit”. That’s when I take action.

After years of listening to my stuff there is very little in my home which I do not use, love or need. Therefore there is no clutter. That doesn’t mean my home is perfectly tidy – there’s a big difference between cluttered and untidy. More on that another time perhaps.

Let’s get back to the listening part. Many of my clients have a hard time deciding what is clutter and what isn’t. They’ll pick up an object, torn between chucking it and keeping it. That’s when I ask, “How does it make you feel?” This question crystallises in the client’s mind precisely whether the object they hold is clutter or not. I see the change in their face as they finally “listen” to what the object is telling them. And the decision is made.