Let's talk about the "C" word...

Clutter...it has so much impact...whether or not you consider yourself to have clutter in your home, I think we can agree that there is a drawer or a cupboard that we wouldn't want anyone to look at.  In the past six months, I've let a lot of things go...it got to the point where I simply couldn't do it anymore.  I felt like the clutter was taking away from my home expressing me (though at the moment, I don't find that my home really expresses me...). 

I've often talked about Nate Berkus' show and he had Geralyn from A and E's Hoarders on.  (If you've never watched Hoarders, watch it.  It'll inspire you to get rid of stuff like you wouldn't believe).  She defined five different types of clutters.  See the clip explaining the different types below...

http://www.thenateshow.com/videos/detail/597/clutter-personality-types

Today, I am definitely the distracted.  With a combination of ADD and under normal circumstances, working up to 60 hours a week (though not lately), I struggle sometimes to get things done.  Lately, as I have had time, I've been tackling things with gusto...I make checklists, put my favorite CD in to dance as I clean, and put goals on what I want to accomplish.  With the possibility of moving in the near future, decluttering has become even more of a goal. 

Some things that I've tried to put into my head are:

• if I haven't touched it in more than a year-it's time to go  (for example, canning jars...I have tons, and I've always been meaning to do pickles, but I never got pickles.  They need to go!)
• if it doesn't have a purpose, what's it's use?  I just made the decision to get rid of something tonight-a good-bye gift from my first teaching job.  As cute as it is, it's clutter, and I have no need for it.  It's something I won't use, it doesn't really fit in with my decor, and I'm ready to let old energy go.
• if it's damaged...I have a few things that need repairing that have been around for a while...I finally admitted to myself that me actually repairing it is nil
• if it doesn't fit....keeping clothes that are too small or too big I think can be dangerous...We might have the best intentions but that's negative energy and if I'm going to lose weight, I think I deserve something new, so that stuff?  It's gone.

So, if you're like me and you need some great energy in your house, tackle a job...be ruthless...