While it remains to be seen if loneliness can really be called an ‘epidemic’ (personally, I feel that an epidemic would involve some kind of infectious agent like a virus, and I cannot really link that notion with loneliness), it is certainly very clear that a growing number of people suffer from some level of loneliness in their lives.

This is the first of a three-part series on the subject of “clutter and loneliness”. I recommend watching Matt D’Avella’s video on the subject, if you can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3aIQuMWJCA&vl=en

Memorabilia can take up a large chunk of what you keep in your home, and most of us have at least a certain number of things in our homes that could qualify as memorabilia. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, unless they have taken over your home! I have found that many people have a special category of memorabilia close to their hearts: those are commonly known as ‘keepsakes’.

How are they any different from standard memorabilia? Let’s look at the definition: keepsake = “anything kept, or given to be kept, as a token of friendship or affection”. Memorabilia cover everything that reminds us of something, while keepsakes are given to us with an intention. It’s a direct exchange between two people rather than a something that sparks your interest and ends up sticking around for a long time.

Decluttering can be hard work. Sometimes the process is working fine and you manage to separate the important items from the ones you feel happy enough to let go, and that is great. But then again, there are situations when the going gets tough and you need a little more time and consideration to make decisions.

Either way, you will end up with a number of items that you have decided to let go. Now what?

Statement: “Decluttering is all about reducing the amount of stuff we have in our space.” This sounds true at first sight, but if you think about it, this is not all there is to it: a lot of clutter accumulates because we follow our specific way of life and daily routine, we cope with trauma in particular ways, or we spend our days in a routine that leads us to bring in more things on a regular basis.

In a way, we allow ourselves to turn a blind eye to what makes us acquire more. When you think of clutter, you only consider how to get rid of it, but not so much about how it keeps sneaking in all the time.

There is a quiet joy in watching the raindrops run down on the outside of your window… a time to reflect and let your mind drift off into a calm place. Usually, daydreaming serves no obvious purpose at all, but the sheer fact that you are letting go of all practical concerns and just let your mind wander is a good thing and should be allowed to happen regularly.

On the other hand, there is a type of ‘guided daydreaming’ that can actually be of use when you are on your decluttering journey…

Imagine the scene: you are visiting some little town in the countryside with lots of cute houses and lots of shops. You do a spot of window shopping and something calls upon you to walk into a shop where – invariably – you’ll see some item that you ‘have been searching forever’ or that simply convinces your inner decoration lover that this is an opportunity you cannot pass.

Either way, you’ll be very excited about your acquisition and you cannot wait to get home and place it in the most appropriate place in your house, where you will enjoy it forever.

Grocery shopping can be a bit of a trial sometimes. How often do you have to go and repeat the process? Do you buy in bulk and only go once every other week or do you shop every day at the little shop on the corner of the street?

All these questions influence your decisions and how you proceed makes a difference in how your storage at home will look...

Many of my clients are actually able to do a lot of things on their own, but are hung up on getting started because they simply don’t know WHERE to start. Everything looks equally important to tackle and there does not seem to be a clear path indicating where to start and how to proceed.

Therefore, I thought I’d give you some ideas on that subject.

Life is short, so why settle for something that is less than comfortable? We spend so much time doing things we HAVE to do rather than those we WANT to do, and much of what we have to do is less than enjoyable right there and then, and in the long run.

This brings up the question why we don’t make more of an effort to make all the things we do as enjoyable as possible.

When it comes to helping people with their decluttering and organising needs, we professionals are faced with many different situations when we first walk into someone’s home. Not always things are glaringly obvious, especially in the kind of household where someone prides themselves on keeping a tidy home that is presentable at all times. That doesn’t mean things are always really the way they look!