This weekend I visited my niece. She graduated from the fourth grade last week. She asked me for some clutter busting help. She showed me her big stack of school work papers and folders. She was flustered about what to do with them.
I said that we'll just look at one thing at a time. I had her pick up her math folder. I said, "Do you need these papers anymore?" She matter-of-factly said no and put them by the door of the room to go out. I asked the same questions about her English homework, and the rest of the papers from her classes. All of the papers went in the toss pile. She was happy with and proud of what she did.
My niece got it that when she didn't need something anymore, it could go. The big step for everyone is going from the confusion and anxiety of what to do, to being open and taking a look and seeing what doesn't fit anymore.
I encourage people to take an honest look at their things because it's much easier than sitting in stuckness. We burn up a lot of ourselves in being unsure. But we get our energy back when we see what's holding us back and we release it.