Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Absolution
I often describe my job as part therapist, part housekeeper, part designer—with the occasional foray into marriage counseling; but now I think I have to add priest. I know, it sounds presumptuous, perhaps even a sacrilegious thing to say, but sometimes I realize that what a client needs is absolution. They want me to forgive them for throwing out perfectly good stuff they never should have bought. And, I do it. I grant them absolution, because we all make mistakes and we shouldn’t have to live in a cluttered shrine to every mistake we’ve ever made.
On the other hand, like a priest, I don’t want it to be too easy. I want you to let stuff go, so your homes can be beautiful and functional, but, as with Confession, after absolution comes penance, so that hopefully you won’t just do it again. That’s why I want you to feel a little bit bad, a little bit guilty about the wasted resources, the stuff going to the landfill, the $300 shoes going to the Goodwill, so that the next time you’re tempted to buy something you don’t need (and really, do any of us need anything?) you’ll pause and consider your past mistakes and whether this might be another hot-pink clutch or George Foreman Grill.
So, absolutely you have my permission to throw stuff out. It doesn’t make you a bad person; just don’t make it a bad habit.