Lightening the Load: Organizing as a Journey

Do you feel suffocated by the thought of organizing, well, anything?  What about changing the way you think about it?

I heard Peter Walsh give an outstanding keynote speech at the National Association of Professional Organizers‘ Conference in April of this year.  There was on visual that has stuck with me since that presentation.  Peter described how he works with his clients, changing their mindset about, and relationship with, their “stuff”.  Here’s how it goes:

Picture yourself in the room you are working on: In your mind’s eye, do you picture yourself surrounded by all the “stuff” in the room?

Now try this: Picture yourself on a road, and all of the stuff in your room next to you on either side.

How does that feel?

Here’s the point: we have our stuff, it doesn’t have us.  It travels with us, to serve and facilitate our life, business, relationships or you name it.  The things we own and buy don’t define us, because we can never be defined that way.  We choose to include things in our life, on this journey so anything we buy or spend money on joins us to the side, next to us.  We choose the routes, turns and pathways that we feel are right with our “stuff” next to us.

It might be a  cliche, but life is a journey.  Think about how you travel, and if your trip is easier with less or more stuff. 

Thinking of your stuff beside you, how can you lighten the load to make your journey more pleasurable?