BREAKING UP WITH YOUR STUFFEmotional Homework to End Your

Toxic Relationship With the Clutter Culture

Anyone who’s experienced it knows that breaking up isn’t so much an act as it is a process. Before you break the news to your partner, divide your belongings and change your Facebook status, you must first commit to your decision to end it. To be sure it’s what you want and that you’re ready to make the change, you ask yourself what you really want from a relationship. What crucial things are you not getting now and how will you see yourself through the initial sense of loss until you start seeing the benefits of your decision?

Personal Organizing Coach Marin Rose argues that we’re all in a toxic relationship with our stuff and that we’ve got some serious thinking to do before we can expect to make lasting, positive change. In these pages she explores the common emotional barriers to people reducing consumption and ownership, from personal feelings of anxiety, guilt and regret, to our faith in the omnipresent American illusion that stuff is a direct path to happiness.

Marin guides us in a thorough examination of our individual priorities and goals, and helps us answer honestly to the self-deceptive thoughts that keep us beholden to clutter. If you’re thinking about committing to organized living — to save time and money, reduce stress and make space in your heart and home for the wonders yet to come — recognizing and working through these barriers are the first crucial steps.

Marin Rose began as an organizing coach in 2010. Her company, Libra Organizing, is named for the order, balance and beauty she brings to her clients’ homes and lives.

In addition to her hands-on work with clients, Marin writes and speaks about the cultural phenomenon of the proliferation of “stuff ” and inspires people to detach from objects in favor of more enriching life experiences.

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