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Absence of Clutter, Part IICopyright 2001 by Thomas J. Leonard . No duplication. All rights reserved.

There are two letters/comments rom participants regarding Absence o Clutter....! share theseanonymously.

Comment #1

Thomas:

Hello and Happy Holidays and hope you are enjoying your time off... free fromcompulsion! I took some time here to give you my experiences by describing my type ofclutter, some reasons you didn t mention for hy I believe I clutter, and a fe solutionsI ve tried.

I describe myself as a "victim" of clutter #often does feel po erless$ and ould agree it scellular. I ve just recently, proudly, emptied % cartons of paper clutter that I moved frommy last house to this one & years ago. I did handle each sheet of paper, un illing to tossthe hole thing hich non'clutterers love to recommend be done. I found a valuable ringand a fe surprises I ould have hated to lose. (aved the heart' arming momentos and asome papers that should be filed.

)hat s interesting is I found the notes and handouts of * Ho to (top +lutter classes!That is hysterically funny to me! It may be useful to kno that my experience ith clutteris almost entirely paper based and I did gro up ith it. y dad continues to be as bad ororse than I. any others keep collections of things that might be valuable or are fun tocollect #like thimbles, shot glasses, matchbooks$ but can clutter.

- /(01( I +23TT -:4. 5eing an information junkie to support insecurity about not kno ingenough and not being good enough no #remember, I also clutter in my email anddiscovered I tend to clutter my verbal and ritten communications to protect my truth$&. +luttering to support my perfectionism.... in order to do it allI have to take on lots of tasks that cannot be done as they cross mydesk so I have to save the pieces of the task *. (imilar to the first, some of the papers, even if filed neatly, are about keeping symbolsor proof of past achievements because there is a fear that maybe no future successes illcome6. /n attachment to things and the emotional good feelings #or old ounds e are stilllicking$ that bring back memories e fear e on t hold onto in our heads or hearts. Ilove this one line from a class I took............ "don t love anything that can t love you

back".%. aintaining an environment that brings up shame and discomfort. In my case it sstacks of "(houlds" that if accomplished ill make me a 7ood )ife, 7ood 8aughter,

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7ood Homemaker, 7ood 9erson. /nother side of the perfectionism. )ithout /22 ofthem done, I think #hmmm, making a discovery as I rite to you$ I give myself and theorld evidence to see that I really am not good enough.

(023TI01(:

I believe you are right some extent that this is a "condition" that I live ith. / fe thingsthat I have tried and have helped keep it manageable are belo . y current clutter can bestacked and hidden hen company comes so it isn t horrific. The tendency I #yes$struggle ith is to spread out those stacks during a typical ork day and my carpet

becomes covered, only to be straightened up once a eek or so for the cleaning lady...good motivator, as you said.

4. I try to create a file heading for almost everything, even if it says 9ending or has a project name. The orst stack for me is the to dos... home and ork. I have a uture/ction file that I rarely look in, but at least it s filed #and haunts me$.

&. I have had a good release of shame and guilt from getting rid of the older boxes ofclutter hich contained very fe happy memories and mostly unresolved old issues. eltgood to get them gone and I chose to release as I tossed.

*. 5iggest lesson for me is to let go of the pressure I put on myself by taking on (houldsin the first place so I try to toss out mail that ould be nice to read or charitable effortsthat are orthy #I m a charitable enough person no $. I try not to hold onto as muchcoaching email that ill make me a better coach, hich it ould, because I am a goodcoach no and ill take the courses, read the ne sletters if I have time in the moment. Iam trying not to save them.

It may be re arding for you and your staff at +; to hear that your emails are some of my biggest email clutter! I get so much from the courses and ne sletters that I tend to savethose and am on )/< to many distribution lists. I get /bsence of, 9assive -evenue,Ho to +oach /nyone /18 all the ne sletters. y I m not a good enough coach getshooked.

Hope this is helpful, even if long, Thomas. Has been cathartic for me. I ish you restful,serene days off and contentment ith the year that has passed. I already kno you havevisions for the year to come. =oy and health to you!

Comment #2

I am by no means an expert on clutter. I ve just lived ith clutterers all my life. I m areformed pack rat, so perhaps I m over vigilant ! :'$

/ll the stuff you list belo is so incredibly true, especially >4? #that s the clutter I velived ith, my father is a painter and graphic artist, my husband is an inventor$.

I ve come to accept that some people are hard ired that ay and - ; 2 in the clutter. I

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onder if it s less an expression of their creativity and more about hen they resurrounded by order it stifles their creativity.

I ve atched my father s creativity dry up the minute his studio@office as organiAed# hether I did it or he did it$. or hatever reason, that much order took a ay the chaos

that let his mind roam free. 5eing so incredibly visual, he relied upon the flo andshapes, colors and textures of his "mess" to soothe his mind and let it roam here itneeded to and inspire him. #His primary genre is abstract art.$ It may sound eird, but Icould al ays tell by the ay his eyes moved hat he as searching for and needing. Thedifference in his eye movements as extraordinary bet een a neat studio and a messyone. 1o mind you, his immediate ork area as organiAed #the four foot diameteraround his canvas@easel, his paints on his taboret$. It had to be, so he could move freely.His paints ere al ays organiAed precisely and predictably.

I ll bet you re ondering hy the heck I observed him so much. 5ecause I as fascinated by his creativity and desperately sought such talent for myself. I thought that if I atched

him enough, spent enough time ith him and imitated him, that it ould "rub off" onme. :'$