Good as Gold

When I first arrived, Adrianne anxiously greeted me in tears, in part because she had defiantly snuck me into her home so her husband wouldn’t know I was there. He thought she should be able to pick up the house herself, especially since she was a stay-at-home mom.

She agreed with him until she came to my workshop It’s Your Mess, But Not All Your Fault℠. After learning that there is a big difference between cleaning house and clearing clutter, Adrianne courageously gave me a call.

Adrienne began to look forward to my coming. It didn’t take much. She started to come out of her shell, glad to know that it was neither as bad as she had thought, nor that she was a lost cause. Feeling more resourceful, her humor came back - she was soon entertaining me as we worked side-by-side clearing clutter.

Adrianne paid me in cash. The problem was that she wanted to continue, but didn’t dare withdraw more from the joint checking account. Her husband would notice. “I’ve had been looking for a part-time job for what seems like forever, but can’t seem to get anything going, she said, I can’t stop now, what are we going to do?”

“Is there anything in the house that is all yours that you could sell,” I asked.

In less than a minute we were pulling a medium-sized box out from under her bed. It was full of gold! It had been there for three years. She hated most of the jewelry, and not only that, she hated the aunt who had given it to her when she died. It’s definitely clutter!

Almost gleefully, we sorted and untangled the jewelry, organizing it by category into zip lock bags. Doing so would help her get a better price. Adrienne kept only one piece, a bracelet. She had a friend she thought could help her sell it, and I gave her the name of a reputable shop, just in case.

Ten days later, we got back to work. I can’t show you the wonderful picture I took of her smiling with a fan full of cash.

Just two weeks after we finished clearing her clutter, Adrienne gave me a call. She happily told me that she was starting a new job. More than the burden of clutter had lifted; she was full of enthusiasm and confidence. She was even getting along better with her husband.

Getting Clear with ClutterClarity

Though related, clearing clutter and cleaning house are very different activities. You clean after you clear clutter. Clearing isn’t a matter of picking up after yourself; you don’t want to pick up your clutter and put it away – no matter how organized it is. Clearing requires multiple decisions. You need good criteria to calm the emotional interference. People think that because they have already learned how to clean house, they should know how to clear clutter. This confusion only makes people feel bad. Almost all of us have clutter. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed to justify asking for help.

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Enjoy, Laura