My Skype phone client today was troubled by her kitchen. There were various items on the kitchen table, counters and floor. She was overwhelmed by the lot of them.
She was feeling badly that she was in this cluttered situation. I told her that it wasn't her fault. Sometimes things collect and we get behind. I said today was a good day to do something about it.
I had her pick up the first item she saw. It was a designer hot plate. It was still in the box from when she received the plate as a gift. The box had mold on it which meant it had been there for a while.
I asked if she ever used the hot plate. She said she hadn't. She told me that in a few years she wanted to move to a new space, and that it would have a nicer kitchen and she would like to use the plate there and then.
I said there's something about hanging on to an item that you don't use that creates a stagnant effect in your living space. I said that she would be better off considering herself in this moment rather than in the future.
I could see that she was still torn by whether or not to keep the hot plate. She was holding her forehead. That's a clutter red flag.
I said that our living space is sacred and we honor it and ourselves by removing anything that is not serving us. I said it might be hard initially for her to make a decision because she'd gotten into the habit of hanging on to things that weren't serving her. That's why the kitchen was in its current state. But by asking herself to be honest about the actual value of something to her in the moment, she would learn a new way to take care of herself and her home.
My client decided to re-gift the hot plate. She cleaned the mold off the box and put it and the plate in her gift area. We moved on to the next item.