The first nine chapters of Dana White’s Decluttering at the Speed of Life address beliefs and attitudes toward decluttering. I’m glad that she takes the time to focus on this because I’m convinced mindset matters more than almost anything when it comes to behaviour change. In these chapters, White also tells her story of living as a (self-proclaimed) slob.
As for my own story, I intend to share more as I go along but for now, I’ll just say that this has been a challenge for me since I was a kid. I remember my mom not wanting me to have friends over to the house because she was worried about the mess. We only had guests over once or twice a year, and the cleaning spree that went into preparing for these rare events was exhausting for everyone. As much as I hated that as a kid, now that I have my own family and my own home, I’m finding myself in my mom’s position with a messy home and a lot of anxiety about having anyone see it. I have never once lived in a space that I felt good about inviting others into. I’d like for that to change. Maybe it seems like a low bar to some, but from where I’m currently standing that bar seems really far out of reach.
Speaking of bars, the most eye-opening thing for me so far in the book is the author’s concept of the “Clutter Threshold… the point at which stuff becomes clutter” in one’s home. She claims that everyone has a different threshold, and once you bring your stuff down under that threshold (through decluttering), your stuff will be significantly easier to keep under control. I definitely like the sound of that! However, I suspect I might find out that my clutter threshold is very low. I like to think of myself as a minimalist even though it’s completely at odds with my reality. But maybe the idea of minimalism appeals to me because I do better with less stuff. And maybe I do better with less stuff because I simply can’t handle more. I’m hoping to explore this idea more in practice once I get going with my decluttering in earnest.
Well, I wasn’t planning to start decluttering until January but, while my 3-year-old was having a bath this afternoon, I managed to clear away a lot of junk from my bathroom counters! There were empty bottles and bags, toy cars, crayons, and even a few bottles of gouache paint taking up space that is now inhabited by a few items that actually contribute to the purpose of the bathroom. I’ll try to post some pictures later.