On Wednesday night, I saw a very interesting program on the "Hoarders" series. It was a man with a 3-year old son. The man loved his son.... and bought many, many, MANY toys for the 3-year old. Eventually.... the wife moved herself and the 3-year old OUT of the house.... and would not bring the 3-year old inside to visit..... because the place was filled PAST the point of safety! Too many toys... new... in their boxes. There was barely room to move in the house.... with huge piles EVERYWHERE!
The father could not SEE that.... while each individual toy was "great"..... so many toys created a big toxic dump.... rather than a place to play!
With LOTS of professional help (provided by the TV show).... the father was able to empty his house into a clean, pleasant place. (There were still lots of white boxes... stacked in some rooms.... but the house was presentable.)
The big difference was.... a BEAUTIFUL PLAYROOM had been created for the little boy. It was brightly painted and decorated.... the floor was covered with a colorful, CLEAN rug. The TV show showed the father, mother and 3-year-old-son in the playroom.... sitting at a child-sized table and chairs.... being happy together.
I remember that Peter Walsh surveys the cluttered domain of each "clutterer" on his TV show. Then, Peter calmly asks them "What would you like this room to be used for, and to look like?" Only then.... with the "big picture" in mind.... do they start decluttering and purging stuff.
Of course, the "clutterer" does not have to clean, repair, paint and decorate the NEWLY decluttered room. The staff of the TV show does that.
So.... our OWN decluttering is more difficult!!!!!!
WE have to figure out what we want each space to look like.... and what we want to "do" in that space.
Then we need to "kind of design" the space in our mind..... and begin the "decluttering process". THE WHOLE THING IS A LOT OF WORK!!!!! Luckily.. we have a year!!! Luckily.... Baby Steps work!!!!
