The Clutter Fairy Weekly #106
I’ve Got a Feeling: When Emotions Complicate the Organizing Process
More often than not, the stories that people who struggle with clutter tell start with the words “I feel….” Even emotions with little clear connection to our stuff can muddle our decision-making and impede progress. In episode #106 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines negative feelings that complicate decluttering and offers encouragement to put positive emotions to work in the process.
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The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.
More Than a Feeling
This week’s assignment is to unpack the feelings that surround a problematic possession. Identify an item that evokes a negative feeling when you try to make a decision about it, then explore the feeling using one or more of these exercises:
- Journal about what you’re feeling.
- Draw or paint something that conveys your feelings about the object.
- Talk with a trusted friend or family member about why this decision is difficult.
- Share a description of the troubling with us using our contact form. (Be sure to let us know if we may share what you’ve written in a future episode. We will only share your comments if you’re comfortable with our doing so.)
- Reflect on whether processing the feeling has made your hard decision any easier.
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
Chat Transcript
Download a transcript of the chat that took place during the live event.
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A poem by Mark Nepo
Breaking Surface
Editor’s note: We’ve removed the text of the poem from Carol’s comment because we don’t want to run into any copyright issues, but you can find the poem on Mr. Nepo’s web site here: Breaking Surface. We hope our web site visitors will take a look, because the poem is a beautiful exhortation to listen to your own voice and your own wisdom. Thanks for sharing, Carol!—efg