Getting started in organizing or any new endeavor, can feel daunting and overwhelming. We may find ourselves suddenly feeling tired, bored, needing to to check our email or getting hungry. Getting clients focused and on task keeps them moving forward.
My job is to access their needs and to address their clutter head on. Because it’s not my stuff, I don’t have the emotional charge as my clients. I can see it as just stuff and I help them start exactly where they are. Wherever we are in the process is fine. There is no situation that is too unmanageable, though it may seem that way to the client.
Getting started requires the client is ready to make a change. Change can be scary and fraught with all sorts of stories we tell ourselves. My sense is that clients have this stuff all around them as a source of protection, as a way to stay where they are and not make the necessary decisions to move forward. By just taking a small, doable step, the client can start to feel relief. Like a logjam, energy has a chance to flow. Or a sliver embedded in our finger that had festered for too long. Once it’s removed, the healing can occur.
I recently was hired by someone to help her organize her living space and, after an hour of discussing what she wanted done, I could tell that she was not ready to proceed. Her mind was sending her danger signals which she couldn’t get past. I patiently watched as some part of her blocked her attempts to get organized. These were the very demons that had cluttered her space and kept her mired in the situation she found herself. I decided to leave and invited her to sit with her resistance and call when she was ready to move forward. She called later that day and said the little bit we did get done was very helpful and would call me soon to continue.
Working with a client, we can start in a corner, with a shelf, or a box and work from there. My job is to open the long closed boxes, empty them out and begin sorting and purging. This simple act gets the flow in motion and things have a chance to flow. After one box is emptied, then onto another. I open plastic bags filled with unopened mail and receipts. I uncover things under couches, behind bookcases and hiding in drawers. The goal is to bring it to the light and to expose it so we can see it and make a decision. Progress starts happening and the client can start to see visible results. We move from stagnation to action and the energy in a space moves as well.
It’s exciting to see results. A client I’ve worked with for a year, has patiently moved from room to room in her house, as we have purged old toys and books, clothes and CDs, movies, artwork and outdated items that have outworn their purpose. We have gone through all her children’s artwork, photographed it, kept what she wanted and recycled the rest. We have archived her life from childhood through the adult years as well as each year’s holiday cards where she can access them and remember the memories associated with them. You may ask, “aren’t you supposed to purge that stuff?” It depends on the client. She has a strong connection to her past and we are sorting this memorabilia so it is neatly contained and she can find it and access it at will. When her children grow older, she can offer their past items to them which they can choose to keep or discard. It’s a personal choice. Her home has grown more orderly and more functional as well as more aesthetically pleasant to be in.
Getting started is a choice and for some of us the time is now and for others it isn’t. Ask yourself if your space is unmanageable and if it is adversely affecting your mental and emotional well being. You can get started. Make a call today and get your life into action and movement. At 510.501.1213 or steve@creativespaceorganizing.com