There's a magical space that occurs during clutter busting. I see it in my clients' faces in the moment the emotional attachment lets go inside of them. It's an unraveling. The effort to hold on and the rational thinking that supported it unspools.
The conflicted emotional involvement snaps. It feels like freedom in the air.
I remember a client who was intensely defending stacks of books that she wasn't reading. All I had done was ask if she was reading them. But she was reacting as if I was wanting to take the books from her. She was panicked.
So I opened one of the books and asked her to read some of it and see how she felt. It was like giving her a plate of food and asking her to take a bite and see if she liked it.
She began to read. As her eyes scanned the words, I could see the intensity slip away. She was losing interest. The words in the book didn't taste good anymore. She was seeing it for herself. She decided to let go of a majority of the books. She was at peace.
The holding on tension that had been there was gone, and was replaced by herself. That's the magical space.
What a great trade!