Yesterday I helped my client with his clothes closet. He told me that he hated venturing in there to decide what to wear each day. I could see why because there were so many clothes hanging on the bar that they bulged outward. It looked like the closet was gorging on clothes. My client glumly looked at the sea of clothes and gave up.
Sometimes we blame ourselves for not being able to think clearly and take care of these kind of chaotic situations. But the disorder is contagious. We can't help but get swept up in it. It helps not to blame ourselves for being overwhelmed. We can see that it's too much for us and think, "Well, of course I feel this way." When the blame goes, it becomes much easier to take care of the situation.
To help make the clutter situation more kind for my client, I had him sit on his bed and I brought out one item of clothing at a time from the closet. I handed it to him and said, "Do you still like wearing this or can we let it go?" He could handle one thing at a time. He took a good look at each item, felt the fabric, and got a conscious 'yes' or 'no.'
The great thing is in an hour and a half we filled up two huge construction 'charity' bags. I brought my client into the closet and showed him all the new-found space. He stood silently, looked around and smiled. I never get tired of seeing people feel happy in their space.
It was also nice to think that all the clothes he let go of would find new homes and get to be worn by people who love them. I've learned from my job that there's no such thing as shortage. There are so many things not being used in people's homes. It's great when the stuff gets freed up to be used by others.
I wanted to let my Southern California blog readers know that I'll be working with clients in Los Angeles, January 12th through February 2nd. If you live in the area and would like to schedule a clutter busting session with me, email me at brooks@clutterbusting.com. Also, I'll be doing a Clutter Busting workshop on January 16th in Manhattan Beach, CA. The info is off to the right side of this blog.