Should is just another word for obligation. The answer to all the following questions is NO! Should I keep this in case I need it some day. Should I keep this because (fill in the blank) gave it to me. Should I keep this, even though I have more of them than I need, just in case one day I actually have to cater to a much larger group than I normally would. Should I keep this because someone made it for me. Should I keep this because, after all, everyone has one. Should I use this only on special occasions. (Everyday is a special occasion, use it often or let it go is what I Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Is Your Clutter a Pile of “Should”?
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My in-laws are visiting, and I was thinking about my father-in-law. He really likes to do home improvement projects, to work on his own vehicle, and he's done some truly outstanding woodworking projects. My husband is not really like his father. No one else I know works on their own car, my husband can only do the simplest of woodworking, and although he does home improvement projects, he doesn't love it. Yet at least some of his clutter reflects who he thinks he should be (see his Dad, above) and not who he really is. The fancy name for this is "aspirational clutter," but I'm going to call Continue reading
From the archives ~ Guilt Clutter
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In the spirit of todays mini mission I have dug up from the archives a post I once wrote about identifying and disassociating from guilt clutter. I hope this helps you achieve your mini mission for the day as well as assist you in finding a few more of these annoying items to rid yourself of. Guilt clutter are items you regret having acquiring in the first place but now feel you should keep in order to justify their purchase and/or get your money’s worth out of them. Just about anything can fall into this category but they are usually items that you… Spent a lot of money on and haven’t Continue reading
Where I am with gifts and gifting
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Since we are on the subject of obligation clutter this week I thought I would do a quick post on gift giving, receiving and decluttering. Not everyone will agree with what I have to say here but that is OK we are all entitled to set our own boundaries when it comes to this tradition. What I prefer ~ which is what this post is about ~ is to avoid the likelihood of unwanted and obligatory items entering my home not to mention the unnecessary addition to the supply and demand of products I don't need that have a detrimental effect on the environment. I have written plenty of post on this Continue reading
Change your focus
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First read this comment by Jane from last week in response to Cindy's Weekly Wisdom ~ Mental Clutter It is interesting how one simple transfer of focus can make such a big difference to someone's life. Think about it for a minute ~ Jane has transferred her focus from avoiding unpleasant tasks to finding a reason to cross something off her to do list. She naturally got no joy from knowing there were unpleasant tasks awaiting to be done but she gets a great deal of pleasure eliminating things from her to do list. The pleasure can not be achieved without the task being done. Nothing has become Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Decluttering Shame
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A book, and its identical twin sister, have been both a clutter and a shame over the past half decade. When I purchased the pair, probably for a premium, since they came from a pricey, wooden-and-organic on-line toy store, I thought they were pure genius, and I was a genius too. "Pocketful of Memories Book": oversized pocket folders, one for each school year kindergarten through eighth, with room to fill in fun information such as "my autograph," "my pets," "my favorite places to visit." How fun! How Simple! How never really used! It seemed like a no-fail system. My Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Are you hanging on to old boyfriend /old girlfriend / ex-wife / ex-husband clutter? Breakin' up is hard to do, and breaking' up with the ex's stuff can be even harder. Some of the things you may have that remind you of him or her: fancy underclothes photos greeting cards and letters jewelry vacation souvenirs music (what do they call mix-tapes in the days of CDs and iTunes?) toiletries food that he/she preferred debt from outings or vacation that you took together or from his/her bad spending habits. a phone or texting bill that went way over Continue reading
Digging in the Archives ~ Disassociation Part 1 ~ Guilt Clutter
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This post from the archives was the first in a series of five about disassociating from you clutter. I have added links at the botton for the other four post in case you would like to read them all. Disassociation Part 1 ~ Guilt Clutter I was intending to write a post today about disassociating with your clutter emotionally but once I started to think about this issue I decided it deserved a whole series of posts. So I have divided this subject into catergories such as Sentimental, Guilt, Obligational, Aspirational and Security clutter as each one affects people in different Continue reading
