The baby clothes can go
How is it that we think we need bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger garages and more storage? Maybe we do not have too little space. Maybe we have more things than we will ever use.
Here is my favourite example. Why do so many of us still have our children's baby clothes when our children are adults? They are not going to wear them. Nobody is. A few things for the heart are lovely. Keep three. But all of them? That is clutter.
What it costs you
Clutter is everything sitting in closets, basements and drawers, waiting for just the right moment. The moment never comes.
In feng shui, stored and unused things are stagnant energy, and stagnant energy keeps you from moving forward. Too many meaningless things around you make for a heavy, unhappy house. Fill your home with things you use and love, for what they mean to you and not what they cost, and every day the house reminds you how lucky you are.
My rule is simple. If you have not used it in a year, you can live without it.
Two questions
When was the last time you were in your own home feeling relaxed, happy and full?
When was the last time you spent an evening with people who made your heart happy?
Think about those for a minute. We keep people around the same way we keep things, out of habit, long after they stopped adding anything. So be choosy about who you spend your time with. The people who make you feel special stay with you long after you say goodbye. The ones who leave you unhappy stay with you too.
And make some happiness of your own every day, even five minutes of it. A good book. A long hot bath. A cup of coffee or tea that you actually sit down to drink.
Three piles
Decide how much time you are giving it: an hour, a day or a weekend. Pick one cluttered spot. Then everything in it goes into one of three piles.
- Keep. Only what you have used in the past year. Give it a proper home, neat and easy to reach.
- Donate. Load it into the car and drive it straight to the charity. Do not let it spend another month by the front door. Someone else will use it and love it.
- Garbage. Only what is broken or cannot be used again. Bag it, or put it in the recycling, ready for the curb.
Every time you clear a space you will feel your stress come down. The room feels bigger, your spirits lift, and the house starts moving again, and so do you.
Clear it, keep it clear, and give your things to someone who will use them. That's happiness, abundance and prosperity to me.
From the archive. First written for my journal years ago, and rewritten for life after 50.
