All around me in the world I inhabit, I hear colleagues making resolutions at the start of the year and swearing to stick to them no matter what. In the blogging world as well, it’s a common topic that circulates freely. Do these write-ups do anything for you? Do you also make them? Of the many I hear about, here are the most common.
– Losing weight
– exercising more
– eating more conscientiously
– going full throttle into garnering marketing skillsets
– becoming published authors
– decluttering
These are the proclamations that everyone throws around at every turn, claim to put on vision boards or tape to mirrors. I stick around to listen, er read sometimes, and on closer observation, the desire to declutter is by far the one that sticks out most emphatically– like a red umbrella. People feel trapped with this one.
I’m not one to make resolutions at the start of the year; I just don’t. But by no means does it mean that I don’t want the same things. I desire all that, just like everybody else, and every day I work passionately towards achieving them. And you know what, even though the published author/marketing thing is the hardest for me, in the last three years that I’ve been at it, I feel that I’m making good stride. Slow, but I’m moving closer.
But the decluttering– now, that’s the one that bogs me down. What I mean by that is that I fail to understand the concept of clutter. What is it? How does one come to accumulate clutter?
Growing up, I had the basics– things that I needed for my everyday survival. Essentials that were selflessly provided to me by my parents. Three sharpened pencils, black-blue-red pens, notebooks for every subject in school, crayons in rainbow colors, a library card– you see where I’m going with this, don’t you?
Of course, besides these, I also had mementos and souvenirs from the places I visited. But never in my growing-up time did I ever have any clutter.
As a young adult living in an apartment, I had the basics as well. Chairs, a table, a bed, comforters, a shelf with books, a job and money, and a closet with clothes. All that, but never clutter.
When I married and started having kids, my husband and I made necessary purchases for the comfort of our children. We provided them with plenty but hardly ever with too much. And now that those little boys are young men, all the childish things purchased are gone as well. What clutter? I pondered.
Forgive my naivety; I’ve come to understand that clutter is more than material possessions, finally. And in this day and age, the desire to declutter is imperative. Let’s try to find a solution to this current dilemma that’s making people feel stuck; let’s, you and I, try to nip it in the bud, or at least give it some attention.
If you’re one of those struggling to declutter, in this short blog post, I will offer you two questions and two quotes to consider– a humble way to help you to start. The solution will need to come from you as only you can bring about the change you desire.
First Question:
What’s holding you back and making you feel stuck? For sure, it couldn’t be the important things in your life that are weighing you down. Or could they? Nope! So then, would you say that it’s the trivial that clutters your life?
What’s trivial, anyway?
- Likes on any social media platform
- The number of followers
- An attractive figure, a beautiful face
- Money
- The prestige of brand items
- The opinion of others
- Traffic
- Forgetting something
“Too many activities and people and things.
Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people.
For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives
But the important as well.
We can have a surfeit of treasures — an excess of shells,
Where one or two would be significant.”
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh:Gift From The Sea
The way the trivial becomes the important and vice versa is determined by the amount of attention or inattention one gives to things. And each person’s capacity to derive importance from them translates to gratifying moments that matter to that individual.
What’s trivial and what’s important are whatever you make them out to be. Declutter your life by balancing your activities and being selective about the things you surround yourself with.
“All of physics is either impossible or trivial.
It is impossible until you understand it,
and then it becomes trivial.”
—Sir. Ernest Rutherford
If you feel like it, drop me a comment to let me know your thoughts.
2021 belongs to you, dear friends, so make it your best one ever.
Happy New Year. Here’s looking at you.
I Wish You Miracles.
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Selma, I never thought of decluttering beyond the physical objects around us. There is a more important decluttering–the cluttering of our hearts and minds. Your words prompted me to consider the ideas, the fears, the memories that clutter my life. My clutter is internal and an ongoing effort that takes time and patience.
I look at the process as iterative going ever deeper until I can reach my true belonging to myself. When I was younger, I thought I could do this by reading a book, hearing a sermon, or participating in a retreat. These actions uncover the clutter, but the clearing requires constantly sweeping away the remnants that no longer serve us. What will I do differently this year? Wisdom has taught me to press on with the task, not once a year, but every day. I don’t do resolutions either, but I can adopt habits.
What if I took a few minutes every day to identify and let go of the clutter that blocks being and becoming my best? I can commit to that.
With gratitude for your thoughtful words and insight…
Hey, Kathryn. Decluttering– yes, it took me a few years to come around to seeing decluttering as more than just that which we encounter with physical objects. And I must admit that it was Anne Morrow Lindberg who pointed me in the right direction. And not on the first read, I tell you. No, her words seeped into me after many reads. That, I find to be the beauty of rereading. Until I understood that quote in its deep meaning, decluttering wasn’t something that I worried about. Or so, I thought.
You are one of the blessings I found last year. Your thoughtful words inspire me. I’m blessed to have found your website– https://kathrynleroy.com and gladly opt to continue receiving your inspirational words in my inbox.
All your “What If” questions put me in a better place. Please don’t stop. Glad I found you. I bless you and wish you Miracles.