There was stuff in disarray and piles on the floors, counters, and table tops. My client seemed pinched and nervous as she was absorbing the discordant energy, and she was giving her tension back to the space. I sensed she'd been living this way for a while.
It's easy to get caught up in the clutter trance. The chaos hypnotizes us. We're stuck in the feeling of unfocused nervousness. It's a mental loop that keeps our awareness in the problem.
I wanted to get her out of the mind jam of the clutter. Rather than talk about it, I started the clutter bust. I went to a pile on the kitchen counter and picked up the first item. It was an envelope. I asked her to open it up. She did. It was junk mail. I asked her what she wanted to do with it. She put it in a recycling bag.
We kept going, item by item. I trust in people's ability to function when they have just one thing in front of them. We can handle one thing easily, and we fall apart when there's too much to consider. By looking at and considering one thing at a time, we're amazing.