By Sunny Simon
A quote attributed to Aristotle I always find motivating is “Well begun is half done.” I don’t know how if I dare claim “well begun,” however; this weekend my husband and I did make a minor dent in clearing the clutter from our garage. Not an easy feat, it took us a week just to agree on a date to begin purging the many years of accumulated items we forgot we even owned. We can place the blame of tackling this long overdue task on laziness, but digging a little deeper reveals, fear, uncertainty and a splash of sadness.
Why fear? It is probably common to hold onto things for that one “someday” when we just might need it. We might be reluctant to let go of an item purchased with our hard earned money as it signals wastefulness. Certainly John and I found ourselves remiss to toss items conjuring up sweet and romantic memories of our long-term relationship; in fact we had to save that purge for another round.
Decluttering isn’t just about making a neat and organized garage to house gardening supplies, tools and holiday decorations. It goes far beyond carefully labeling and lining up matching bins making the garage look like an ad in Good Housekeeping for The Container Store. No for many, myself included, ridding any area of office or home of unused, unwanted belongings supports a desire to simplify life.
According to June Saruwatari, author of the book, “Beyond the Clutter, staying in front of the curve on clutter and unfinished projects “keeps your mind from going haywire.” Saruwatari advises if you begin storing piles of items in a closet, you can shut the door, however; “you still carry it with you.” A key question to ponder is how many items must you hold onto before these belongings begin to control your life.
At the end of the allotted time spent in the garage, John and I smiled happily over what we accomplished. Following the words of experts like Saruwatari, the next step is to get ruthless about taking actions to eliminate the stuck energy existing in physical spaces packed with possessions, no longer serving a purpose.
This week I challenge you to inventory areas of both your home and your life that are littered with items and activities no longer joyful or useful. Call it spring cleaning or the path to simplification and repeat after me: “Well begun is half done.”
Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching and the author of the blog, www.lifeonthesunnyside.net.
