"It's Too Full!"

My phone client described her place as, "It's too full. It's stacked to the gills."

She didn't know how many boxes were stacked in the room she was working in. She also didn't know most of what was in the boxes.

I could tell by her voice that she had been long overwhelmed by the walls of boxes. She said they extended out into the hallway and made it difficult for her to walk by.

She said, "I was scared so I didn't go through these boxes on my own. Actually I avoided this room altogether. I'm still scared."

I said that she can be scared and still begin. Actually starting has a way of loosening a person up from the stuck scared stiffness of living with the clutter.

I wanted to help her let go of the attachment that had kept her hanging onto these things for so long. So I told her that all the boxes were trash. I meant they were of no value to her as they were. They were terrorizing her in her own home. She didn't know the boxes' contents so in a way, there was nothing in them. It was as if they were already thrown away.

These things were her enemies. It was important to hear the truth of what was happening so she wouldn't have the illusion that she needed these things.

Then we began.

I said it didn't matter which box she picked. She randomly chose one and told me what she found. It was filled with things she didn't want anymore. She decided to donate them to a church charity.

She got on a roll. She was surprised at how easy it was to let go of things she no longer wanted, loved or used.

At one point she got a little stuck. So I said, "It's okay to say no to things because you can't hurt stuffs' feelings." She laughed and we kept going.