Peace of Mind Organizing

Powerful decluttering

12 November 2008

This morning I received the e-newsletter, called LiveCreative” of Christine Kane, the blogger, musician, and creativity consultant whose blog was my Blog of the Week a few months ago.

The theme of the newsletter was clearing clutter. Christine wrote about the power of letting go of the old flea-market furniture in her basement that she’d kept just in case her music career failed and she needed poor-person furniture again. She talked about how she cried when that furniture was taken away but that she recognized that the furniture in her basement served as a constant reminder that her financial success might be temporary. And that letting go of it she was acknowledging that she believed in her own success.

Sure enough, the CD she was recording at the time she was clearing out her basement (30 minutes at a time), sold five times more than any of her other CDs. Here’s one of the things she learned from the experience: “I have become a firm believer that we each need to pay attention to the energy of the stuff that surrounds us. We need to pay attention to what we are telling our subconscious minds when we hold on.”

I read that at about six this morning and it caused me to look over at the bookshelf crammed full of dog books that I have in my office. I do have two dogs, so the books aren’t irrelevant. But they are a vestige of my past life as a dog writer. It’s only been about a year since I gave up my last dog-writing gig: being the book-review columnist for Dog World magazine. A side effect of that job was a massive influx of dog books. I don’t read these books. I don’t need them. And I’ve become very good at donating them.

However, left on my shelf were the good ones. The ones by authors I respected. The ones that helped educate me on holistic health for my animals. The ones I referred to when my prior dogs, Kramer and Scout, were very ill.

I have another, smaller, bookshelf in my office. It’s full of organizing books. On the floor in front of it were more organizing books, relegated to the floor because there was no shelf space for them. Sitting there disrespected and causing my office to look cluttered.

So I set my timer for 10 minutes and I set out to clear a single shelf on the dog bookshelf to make room for organizing books. It was a little tough. “Maybe I’ll need these if Pip, Kirby, or Joe gets sick,” I thought to myself. But then the organizer in me reminded me, as I would remind a client, that the information is probably not the most up-to-date info that’s now available. Kramer and Scout passed away seven years afgo and I haven’t looked at these books.

In that ten minutes I made several large piles of books I was willing to let go. And then I thought about what I’d do with the books. Ordinarily I’d donate them. But this morning I’ve been thinking about ways to bring money in (my schedule’s not crammed with clients), so I divided them into categories and have decided to try to sell whole lots on craigslist. I figure it’s worth a shot and if no one bites, I’ll donate them. (Interested in a lot of 20 holistic dog-care books? Check out my craigslist ad. More lots to come.)

I’m feeling the exhilaration of letting go of my past. Of creating space for my present. And I highly recommend it.

After I finished reading Christine’s newsletter, I paid a visit to her blog and started clicking around. It’d been a little while since I explored there. I read some really wonderful entries. Here are a few favorites:

56 Things You Can Toss Now
9 Seemingly Logical Excuses for Clinging to Clutter
Gratitude Journals and Why They Work
How to Stop a Recession in Its Tracks
Defining Downtime: 6 Ways to Ramp Up Your Rejuvenation

This list would be longer if I had more time this morning to read! Thanks, Christine, for giving me a shot in the arm this morning. You can sign up here to received Christine’s newsletter, LiveCreative. And when you do, you’ll get a free song!

Tagged with: christine kane, decluttering, encouragement, gratitude, self-care, workspace

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