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Saturday, August 17, 2013

How to Declutter Using Faith

What on earth, you may ask, does faith have to do with decluttering?

If you'd asked me six months ago, I'd have said absolutely nothing. But now I see how critical faith is to a simple life, a decluttered home, and a feeling of prosperity and ease.

I don't mean faith in the sense of religious beliefs, though that can work if that's what works for you. I'm such an eclectic spiritual soul that I don't know how to define my "faith," but I don't think of it in religious terms. More in terms of a belief in something larger, something mysterious, something that is perfect and whole, no matter what is actually going on, and no matter how I perceive it to be otherwise. A universe that exists is enough, for me, to have faith that I can surrender to its integrity, even if I don't understand or even like it.

Here we are. Amazing.

Now, in my home, I have struggled, for years, with a yearning for a simple, uncluttered lifestyle, a clean, open and cozy place that has room to breathe and feels good and actually achieving it. I can tell you that right now I don't have that. My house is also not so bad as to be the other extreme--it is not heavily congested, it is not chaotic, it is not cramped and airless and it does not look to be the home of a hoarder.

But. I want the feeling of simplicity and space and enough-ness in my home. My discovery vis-a-vis faith and decluttering is that the only way to let things go AND not bring more than what's absolutely necessary into my life is to have faith in a universe that provides enough.

The process of getting to that faith, by the way, has taken me years. And I can discuss more of that in another post. But today, I want to leave you with the thought that if you crave a decluttered home, if you want simplicity and peace and ease in your life, you are gonna have to cultivate faith to achieve it. I really think it's the only way.

I mean, you could hire a professional organizer to come in and declutter and organize your stuff, but the only way to maintain that state is to feel differently than you did when you were in the process of cluttering your home. (And, by the way, you have to take responsibility--clutter doesn't just happen. You either make it or you allow it via various avenues, another topic for another post.)

And for me, the way I've begun feeling differently about prosperity and material possessions and all that goes along with it--money, work, buying, selling, giving and sharing--is to apply faith to the process.

If you're feeling it, tell me what the biggest obstacle is for you on your path to a decluttered, simple home? And what do you think faith could do for you regarding this area?

As always, peace to you.
Tiffany

2 comments:

aniko said...

My biggest obstacle on the path to a decluttered home is linked to feelings of being emotionally drained. I am looking around my writing room and noticing the sure signs of what appears to be at least a year of increasing stress. It's not hoarder-bad (not even close, as this room is 3/4 empty), but the available shelves are loaded with books, old copies of my novels, and unfiled letters from friends. Some of those letters have gone unanswered, all for the same reason the room is getting shelf barnacles. I guess my most intimate environment is a reflection on who I am at the moment. If I change the room, will I also change?

-aniko

Tiffany Hamburger said...

First, so sorry to hear about a year of increasing stress! Sending you calm, spacious energy so that you can defend against or cope with at least some of that stress!

As for your question...I think the answer is no. I think you could change the room, and if you haven't done the work on yourself, the room will come back to reflect your inner life very soon.

I think that the person must change, and only then will the rooms change. At least that's been my experience.

Have you ever watched that show about the people who work with that trainer to lose hundreds of pounds? (Can't think of the name.) Anyway, they always have some deep secret or terrible trauma that they must overcome to keep the weight off and to stay motivated to eat well and move and be healthy.

I think like some people use food and weight as a barrier, others use stuff as a security blanket.

It doesn't sound like you have too much stuff, though. It sounds like the stuff you have is bothering you. In that case, the question might be, what does it represent?

Thanks for the comment!
Tiffany