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So, How do the Messies Manifest & Morph About Around Your Home? (Part 2)*

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate

messy room by moby74 on flickr.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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Comments (8)

Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro
Lola - I loved your post!!  What finally woke me up to clutter was making two cross country moves across the Unites States.  When you are paying to move it yourself you really go "Do I need this"!!  I guess that would kind of go along with number 2 "Why do I feel the need to move it"!
Aug 20, 2007 10:00 AM
Carol Smith
Casmi Photography - Mebane, NC

Lola - I was going to invite you down for lunch....but I'm not so sure now....at least not until I buy a wheelbarrow and a bunch of trash bags!  LOL  I am one that has always had a method to my messiness.  It doesn't make a bit of sense to anyone else, but if you ask me for something I can pick it right out. 

When we moved from a 2000 sf house into a 1100 sf house we got rid of tons of stuff.  But somehow I still have more than this house will hold!  Eeeek! 

Aug 20, 2007 10:19 AM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher
Lola, what a wonderful post.  I work with people often who have these issues and they simply don't see all their things as "clutter."  Yet when you can get them to make some changes, they feel SO much better!  I'm glad you are helping your clients with this, it's a beneficial issue you are helping them with!
Aug 20, 2007 10:23 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!
Hi Marchal.  Thanks for stopping by to read and comment. Inspite of my best intentions, I still manage to keep some clutter around.  However, stopping to ask myself these questions has helped me to decide when it was appropriate to get rid of a lot of stuff.
Aug 20, 2007 11:31 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!
Hi Carol...anyone who can successfully move from 2000 sq. ft. to 1100 has my admiration!  Most of us suceed only when we move to more space...to of course collect & accumulate...more stuff! :)  Please reconsider on the lunch invitation...:)  Thanks for your comment, you brought a smile to my face.
Aug 20, 2007 11:34 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!
Hi Carol, I once listened to a tape on clutter which was life changing.  I don't remember the author, but she spoke about how clutter limits opportunity in your life through hanging on to old attachments.  When we decluttered our basement after listening to this series, we did feel a lot better!
Aug 20, 2007 11:36 AM
Carol Smith
Casmi Photography - Mebane, NC
Lola - you know the lunch invitation is open any time you are available and in the area.  Or if I'm on one of my treks to GR I will certainly call you again and we can get lunch or coffee - whatever works.
Aug 20, 2007 02:03 PM
Cindy Lin
Staged4more School of Home Staging - South San Francisco, CA
Host, The Home Staging Show podcast

I guess that makes me an intelligent person haha ;)

I frankly feel that I spend so much time organizing and decluttering others' lives, I neglect my own. But honestly, not only being more organized is better feng shui (more positive flow in home grows positive energy), it also pays to be more organized, because it will be much easier to locate stuff and save you valuable time. But it's true, messy people have some sort of system that others don't understand. The sister of a friend of mine sister got fired from her admin job when she first graduated from school. She was too dis-organized and constantly lost things. But a week later they called her back to hire her back... because they couldn't find anything! Isn't that the craziest story? ;)

Cheers,

Cindy 

Aug 20, 2007 06:04 PM