Declaration to Declutter

"Clutter is not just physical stuff. It’s old ideas, toxic relationships and bad habits. Clutter is anything that does not support your better self.” – Eleanor Brownn

This past year I have been on the road more often than I have been “home”, so I’ve basically been living out of my car. There are definitely some pros and cons to living out of your car. It’s not ideal for when you want to impress people (i.e. picking up your friend and her 4 month old daughter for breakfast), and not so great when you need to find something quick. Bless my boyfriend’s heart, he found some extra space in a corner of his room for a dresser just for my clothes. Now, I don’t have to rotate between the same three outfits every week and can actually have my clothes folded into drawers rather than digging them out of the trunk. The nice thing about living out of my car is that it allows me to pick up and go whenever you want to, and I have basically everything I really need on me at all times. Having all of your belongs in your car really makes you simplify, and helps to understand your wants versus your needs. It’s actually a really freeing experience. It also made me realize that I have a problem… a big fat clutter problem.

Now, I truly don’t have only a cars worth of “stuff”. I also have a 10 X 10 ft. storage unit full of furniture, clothing, bedding, kitchen stuff, decorations, etc., almost enough to fill an entire one-bedroom apartment. I’ve been paying for this storage unit to hold this stuff every month for the past 1.5 years since I’m too afraid to let any of it go. I tell myself ‘well, I may need this one day’, or ‘this reminds me of so & so’, or ‘so & so got me this, so I can’t get rid of it’. Although all of those thoughts may be true, will I truly miss these things if I got rid of them? Probably not. I mean, I wouldn’t say I’m at hoarder status quite yet, but I do admire those people who just don’t need to hold onto things.

To me, physical clutter = mental clutter. For example, I could concentrate on my studies so much easier if my room was clean. Even if my desk was facing a wall with my messy room at my back, I could still feel it and it was so distracting. Studies even show that attachment to clutter is linked to serious emotional problems such as stress, depression, and chronic pain. It’s one of those ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg’ type of deals. Often, letting go of clutter is more importantly letting go of some long-winded emotional baggage from the past that we carry around, rather than just enjoying the present.

It really wasn’t until I was living out of my car with only the basics that I realized how toxic “stuff” can be. Therefore, I’m giving myself a sanity check by de-cluttering physically, and hopefully that means mentally (if the studies are correct).

What's really going to be tough for me is breaking this 26 year habit of built of being messy. But breaking habits will have to be a whole other blog post since I have quite a bit to say about habits.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I believe in having measurable/obtainable goals. So here we go:

Within 2 weeks, I will go through my storage unit and donate anything that is functioning and presentable to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Another goal but that isn’t necessarily measurable:

Let go of a grudge/worry/frustration.