Survey #257—Full Response from Anonymous user
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| How have your ideas, attitudes, and behaviors around clutter changed over the course of your adult life? Do you have a higher or lower threshold for what counts as “clutter”? | I have switched from acquisition to dispersal. At my age, I don’t have a lifetime to get use out of dinner party crystal, furniture, wall decor. I may be driving the last car I ever buy. I’m doing some math to give me a reality check: if I can read 30-40 books a year, then i don’t need to keep more than 350 unread classics and the other 1000+ can be donated. If I can only knit or crochet 5 items a year, then I don’t need more than 50 types of yarn in my stash. This type of calculation is difficult when young, but the older I get the more concrete decluttering becomes. |
| Do you find it easier or harder to declutter and organize as time goes by? Are there categories of stuff that get easier to manage? Are there categories that get harder to manage? | It is easier and easier to declutter as long as I still have my wits about me. I get tired more quickly with age and my dinner parties are shrinking from 12 to 10 to 8. My husband and I don’t camp any more so we can give up the tent. I don’t work outside the home, so I don’t need as many nice clothes. And so on. |
| Think about the person in your life who’s had the most impact on your decluttering and organizing, or the person whose own clutter creates the most impact on you. This may be a spouse, partner, roommate, child, parent, another member of your household, or someone outside your household or family. How have this person’s ideas, attitudes, and behaviors around clutter—or the way their stuff affects you—changed over the course of your relationship? | My husband doesn’t like to get rid of things, but as I declutter my clothes, books, make-up drawer, shoes, sports equipment, and hobbies, I find him doing the same thing. Seeing my side of the closet, the simplified bookcase in the living room, and more space in the storage room must be inspiring him. |
| If you could ask for one small change in someone else’s behavior that would improve the state of your home, what would it be? | I do ask for help and ideas. Sometimes I need to be patient but eventually we plan a vacation, the look of the yard is improved, a heavy piece of furniture is moved. |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | I could never keep a tidy house when I had young kids. Maybe it’s impossible? With just my husband and me, my house always looks pretty nice. Folks with kids, pets, school activities, team sports, full-time jobs…. I found there was only so much time and energy to go around. Maybe the answer was to have less stuff, but that’s not how I was raised and the thought never occurred to me ! |
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