Apparently, messiness is a topic of interest and concern to a lot of people. It is interesting to view the number of entries on google devoted to "self help" for messy people. An inability to keep things neat has long been regarded as problematic for many reasons. These include difficulty in maintaining order and organization as well as concerns for health and hygiene.
However, I think the manner in which we maintain a mess can tell a lot about an individual and offer some insights about what may be going on inside. This is a conclusion I have come to; Messiness is a highly personal issue and serves different purposes for different people.
I've observed several types of messy people. In one of my first jobs, one of the managers I worked with literally had a pile of stuff, one foot high, on his desk at all times. I never understood how he found anything. I think that in mock protest, I would always make sure that my desk was totally clean when I left work in the evening. My efforts made absolutely no difference!
But, in fairness to him, he always seemed to be able to locate whatever was necessary when he needed it. So, even though it looked disorganized to me...there was a peculiar method to his madness. I'm intrigued by how often messy people are also extremely intelligent people! I wonder if the process of physical chaos somehow enhances the creative process in their lives.
When I do a Staging Appointment to prepare a home for sale, one of the most common issues I address is clutter. Most people have the opinion that clutter is a function of too much stuff. While this may be the case, I have found some other compelling reasons that clutter accumulates around homes. Sometimes these issues have little to do with the stuff taking up square footage space and more to do with the clogging of the arteries feeding the inner space within the human soul.
Preparing to move can force an awareness of items and their role in our lives. For years I carried around old college text books. Yes, they had represented a small fortune to me when I bought them, but I had not read them for years. Yet, I continued to lug them from home to home...until, one of our friends who was helping us move groaned while hoisting the books from the truck..."Lola, I really hope you're going to be reading these books." It was a wake up call for me to begin to examine why I felt the need to haul these books from basement to basement as we moved. Were they somehow a crutch that I was using to validate the fact that I'd earned my degree? Shortly after this, I finally donated the books to a library.
Over the years, I've listed homes where there was so much junk that the owners seemed to be peering over a prison wall of their own making...all their junk! Renting a dumpster has been one of the most important and profound decisions people in this trap have ever taken. When there is this much junk, most people have long lost touch with what is going on in their lives. Through the action of releasing the stuff, the opportunity of reconnecting with their goals and dreams has a chance to begin.
Some Questions to Ponder:
1. What does my Junk Represent to me?
2. Why do I feel the need to Move it?
3. How is my attachment to my Stuff impacting my life?
You can contact us to talk about decluttering your home for a Faster Sale!
*This post is a part of a Series. Click here to Read part 1...
photo of shopping carts is courtesy of moby74's photo stream on flickr.com
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