Once the party's over and the old year's been put out to pasture, it's a good time to lean back and take stock. Jan. 1 is the day for resolutions, and here's one to consider: Free our homes -- and lives -- of stuff that drags us down. The goal is not to attain some Martha Stewart-ish household perfection, or even to meet your mother-in-law's standards. It's simply to make more room in your life for happiness.
A
several months ago provides illustration. At 50, Julie Young has been trying to live with less for many years. In fact, when she first met the man who was to become her husband, he was stunned to find that her home lacked the most basic clutter-corral: the junk drawer. But even so, when the family of four decided recently to move into a 1,000-square-foot loft, they needed to purge. And that's not a bad thing.
"To me, the stuff that we surround ourselves with is such a metaphor for the clutter we allow in our lives," Young says. "The more you have, it is harder to get to your calling. ... I am just trying to say 'Joy matters' and make space for that."
Clutter can be hard to deal with because it tends to make us feel inadequate and overwhelmed. Focusing on the positive, though, can change the whole dynamic. So let's take a cue from Julie Young and keep this in mind as the days roll by: The opposite of clutter is joy.
READ ON
• Sarah Ban Breathnach,
A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" (2009 reissue)
Her website:
. It has a short
that includes this:
On the Simple Abundance path, we begin to think of Order not as a strait-jacket of "shoulds" (make the bed, wash the dishes, take out the garbage) but as a shape -- the foundation -- for the beautiful new life you create every moment with small conscious actions.
Also, if only to show that the so-called experts aren't perfect -- or that their expertise develops in order to fight their imperfections -- here's a USA Today story about how Breathnach lost her way and became a shopaholic. It starts:
In June 2009, when she was 61, Sarah Ban Breathnach washed up at her sister's Redondo Beach apartment with her old, sick cat and no money.
The same Breathnach whose 1995 self-help book, Simple Abundance, was featured on Oprah Winfrey's show 11 times and has sold 7 million copies.
The author had fled England, leaving behind her cherished 900-year-old home -- once Sir Isaac Newton's chapel -- along with her sheep, her freeloading British husband and creditors baying for payment.
Find the
• Karen Kingston, "
(1999, but 2008 revised edition has updates and a chapter on "Time Clutter"; 2011 Kindle edition has more updates and a chapter on "Changing Standpoint")
Kingston's blog:
• Gretchen Rubin,
(2011)
Her website:
On her website:
Sample quote: "For me, clearing clutter is a key in striving to be happier. Outer order makes it much easier for me to find inner serenity. Not to mention that it's easier to find my keys."