Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
The Wreckage of the Past
Last week, I was working with a client who had a lot of clothes. She kept insisting she doesn’t shop, but as we talked, it became clear that she used to shop. Because she’s lucky enough to still wear the same size, she has held on to most of the stuff.
Usually people aren’t horribly disorganized, it’s just that at some point they lost control of some aspect of their lives. Maybe papers piled up when they took on a more demanding job, or shopping seemed soothing after a big breakup. The arrival of a new baby can cause household upheaval that’s hard to bounce back from.
It doesn’t matter why you lost control, or what area it manifested in. All that matters is that today, here and now, you’re ready to deal with it.
The good news is that it’s often easier to deal with this “wreckage of the past” because it is past. It’s why I love working on old boxes and the backs of closets with clients. They don’t even remember half the stuff; it’s been out of sight and out of mind. The emotional attachment is minimal, and they throw tons away quickly. Score!
On the other hand, when there’s really a lot, it can be grueling, but that’s great too. Why? Yes, stuff just piled up this way because you had a baby, and then you moved, and then your aunt left you all her worldly possessions. However, life keeps on happening: You’ll have another child (then you’ll have two, God help you!), and you’ll move again, but this time will be different because you’ve faced and vanquished all the wreckage of your past once, and you know that you never want to let it get that way again.
So face your past, and learn from it. Sure, everybody makes mistakes, but we don’t have to make the same ones over and over.