Clutter and De-
I found this article on the Times site:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01well.html?em&ex=1199682000&en=bb2ad8a013d54e30&ei=5087%0A
Right behind losing weight and getting in shape on our resolutions lists is a vow to get organized. I know that one of my frequent correspondents writes about how cluttered her house gets (and how frustrated she gets at her own personal mess-makers) so reading this piece piqued my interest. Note that it appears in the 'Health' section! Here's a cogent quote:
"But experts say the problem with all this is that many people are going about it in the wrong way. Too often they approach clutter and disorganization as a space problem that can be solved by acquiring bins and organizers."
I found it interesting that the author cites experts that link weight loss to decluttering one's home environment. It would have suited my sense of covering all points of view, however, to mention that the idea of 'clutter' is thoroughly modern and partly a consequence of having enough resources to accumulate 'things' in the first place. Someone who never throws anything out may have come from humble circumstances where they had virtually nothing so they keep everything that they have ever spent money on including newspapers, wrap that was meant to be disposable and broken things that they may 'fix' someday. But, then, those of us who heard stories about the Great Depression, much less those folk who lived through it, will be fading away. A close-to-personal example of what I mean: my mother explained her collection of 40 pairs of shoes to me once as being a reaction to remembering when her mother and her grandmother only had one pair of shoes between them (and they actually fit grandma!). Mom got over that particular quirk but, to this day, has trouble throwing things away. No, she tries to give them to me and, if I say no, I'll be sure to be asked again the next time I am at her house. Then she bugs me about my cluttered house...... I laugh and go home.
I did look at the 'clutter' scale on a website cited by the article - it isn't a quiz - and, honestly, I think we are all fine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01well.html?em&ex=1199682000&en=bb2ad8a013d54e30&ei=5087%0A
Right behind losing weight and getting in shape on our resolutions lists is a vow to get organized. I know that one of my frequent correspondents writes about how cluttered her house gets (and how frustrated she gets at her own personal mess-makers) so reading this piece piqued my interest. Note that it appears in the 'Health' section! Here's a cogent quote:
"But experts say the problem with all this is that many people are going about it in the wrong way. Too often they approach clutter and disorganization as a space problem that can be solved by acquiring bins and organizers."
I found it interesting that the author cites experts that link weight loss to decluttering one's home environment. It would have suited my sense of covering all points of view, however, to mention that the idea of 'clutter' is thoroughly modern and partly a consequence of having enough resources to accumulate 'things' in the first place. Someone who never throws anything out may have come from humble circumstances where they had virtually nothing so they keep everything that they have ever spent money on including newspapers, wrap that was meant to be disposable and broken things that they may 'fix' someday. But, then, those of us who heard stories about the Great Depression, much less those folk who lived through it, will be fading away. A close-to-personal example of what I mean: my mother explained her collection of 40 pairs of shoes to me once as being a reaction to remembering when her mother and her grandmother only had one pair of shoes between them (and they actually fit grandma!). Mom got over that particular quirk but, to this day, has trouble throwing things away. No, she tries to give them to me and, if I say no, I'll be sure to be asked again the next time I am at her house. Then she bugs me about my cluttered house...... I laugh and go home.
I did look at the 'clutter' scale on a website cited by the article - it isn't a quiz - and, honestly, I think we are all fine.