Making room for what you love.  This morning, as a validation and affirmation that it's time to de-clutter, let go, and downsize, I heard an amazing interview on CPR (Colorado Public  Radio, 90.1FM). A couple built a 130 square foot house and then created a film called Tiny: A Story About Living Small, which will be shown at the Boulder International Film Festival February 16. Listen  to their interview if you want to be motivated and inspired to live smaller than you are living now. I was most impressed by their comments on how living with less encourages living with more: money, time, energy, community and civic involvement, and being outdoors.  They said living small forces one to look at their values and beliefs. For the next two weeks I have scheduled time to de-clutter my 12 years of business files and books. My plan is to empty four of the five file drawers and get all my resources and 'must keeps' in one file drawer. All my business accomplishments will be moving from papers and files and presentations in my hand to my heart--where the memories of personal achievements will reside forever, and here's why.  

Clutter's impact.  All the paper and possessions and junk drawers and clothing and books and supplies that we do not love, use or need, impacts our lives in four ways.  Clutter takes TIME:  Time to find things, time to store, organize, arrange, display, repair, clean, dust, polish, insure, and maintain it.  And clutter costs MONEY:  Money to purchase duplicates when we can't find the originals, in off-site storage, a bigger house to hold it and more.  And no space is free.  This week figure out the cost per square foot of the space you are using for storage.    Would your money be better spent if the room were a hobby room, library, or a family room?  And what does it cost to repair and maintain, display and insure collections.  Maybe we pay a housekeeper to dust and clean it all.  Clutter can also impact our SAFETY and HEALTH:  If we have clutter in the hallways or on the stairs, a trip or fall might occur.  Clutter also attracts dust, mold, mildew, insects, and creatures.  But most important, clutter is an ENERGY ZAPPER: All your stuff requires energy--YOUR energy.  In her book Clear your clutter with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston says "we are energetically attached to our clutter".  Imagine with me for a moment--picture this, see this in your mind--everything--every single thing you own--clothes, linens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, housewares, décor, music, furniture, jewelry, what's in your computer and tool box, and all the stuff in your junk drawer, in your glove box, and in the basement and garage--is attached to you by single pieces of thread.  You drag this around with you 24/7 whether you like it or not.   It all has to be "taken care of" or "fooled with" and thought about in some way everyday.  It's all yours, you own it. 

We say we want simpler, less complicated lives, but for whatever reason, we cannot seem to let go of our stuff.  Back in 2000, the Trends Research Institute said that "simplifying is the social movement of the next decade." I believe it's the movement of the next millennium.  If you truly want a simpler life--one where you have more time to travel, golf, hike, build a garden and then actually sit in it and read or play with your kids and grand kids--a smaller home that requires less maintenance, and fewer things to take care of and worry about and deal with--the first step is to conquer your clutter. 

And here's the second most important thing I learned: You Can't Take It With You.  There are no U-Hauls behind the hearse. No matter who gave it to you, how much it cost or how long you've had it, it's nearly impossible to find anyone who will love or appreciate your stuff as much as you do.  What will they do with it when you're gone?  They will keep some, sell some, donate some, and dump the rest.  And we will be in such a spectacular place we won't even care. 

After all my research and clients and students, the lesson from my mother over ten years earlier resurfaced loud and clear "it's not about the stuff you accumulate in your life, it's all about the memories--the intangibles."

This week ask yourself if you could live in half the square footage you live in now? How about a fourth of the square footage? How does clutter impact your life? What could you be doing differently if you didn't have all your stuff? Listen to Christopher's and Merete's story on CPR. Take a look at Jan's story below, and decide if living small(er) is indeed living LARGE.