In her book
The Happiness Project, author Gretchen Rubin
kicked off her twelve month pursuit of a more satisfactory life by attempting
to elevate her energy. It makes
sense. After all, how can you be happy
if you feel drained? If you're too tired, how can you engage in joy producing
activities? So Rubin tries out several vitality-boosting
resolutions.
I've taken on something of a
happiness project of my own. And while I agree that improving energy is a great place to start, parts of Rubin's attack plan weren't terribly useful to me:
Get more
sleep, she says. (I think I sleep
adequately.)
Get more
exercise, she says. (I think I
sleep adequately.)
So, okay. But what
really caught my attention was Rubin’s resolution to boost her energy by battling
household disorder. In other words, to
energize herself and make herself a happier person, Rubin went on a month-long clutter
busting rampage in her home. Now we’re
talking!
Some readers of this blog may recall that last year I went
on just such an adventure myself. It was
during the week of my family’s annual biking/camping vacation that I enjoy not
attending every year.
Instead, I spent that
precious week of “me time” purging my home of
general clutter,
paper clutter,
and even food clutter.
Compared to Gretchen Rubin, however, I fear I am a
clutter-busting amateur. By her account,
she took on classifications of clutter that I’d never even thought of, like:
Nostalgic
clutter – when you cling to useless relics of an earlier phase of life. (Yes, I still have my prom dresses, circa 1975. Yes, I have a drawer full of crayon scribble “art.”
Yes, I still have the spelling bee
trophy I won in fourth grade. What of
it?)
Conservation
clutter – when you hang onto things because they are useful, even if you
will never, ever use them. (What do you
mean this set of gold charger plates is nothing but a dust collector? I might need them someday when I host an
elegant dinner party. Maybe. One of these days. It could happen.)
Bargain
and/or freebie clutter – comes from
buying/taking unnecessary things just because they are on sale/free. (Why do I have an entire cupboard of empty
plastic reusable cups from the pizza place?
I never use them.)
Buyer’s
remorse clutter – hanging onto things you don’t use, need or even like just
because you can’t admit you made a mistake buying them. (One word:
juicer.)
Aspirational
clutter – keeping things around because you love the idea of using
them, but never actually do. (I know that tower of fat quarters is about to fall and crush the dog, but I swear by all that is sacred -- I am GOING to make a quilt!)
Outgrown
clutter – holding onto old versions of things, even though you now prefer
something better. (Behold my collection
of beautiful stationery and colorful note cards. For when I stop using email.)
Crutch
clutter – This one is kind of the anti-clutter. It’s when you hold onto dreadful things
because you really do use them, even though you know you should get rid of
them. (I know they’re horrible, but I
wear those trousers for gardening. If you don't like it, call
the Pants Police and file a report.)
Of all, I suspect the most crippling, the most
happiness-suppressing form of clutter is what Rubin describes as “the invisible
but… enervating psychic clutter of loose ends.” She is referring to all those “neglected
tasks that make you feel weary and guilty whenever you think of them.” So, if you want to be happy, it's best to stop thinking of them and get them done!
In a more graphic manner, my daughter Kate refers to handling loathsome tasks as eating toads. She says, if you wake up in the morning knowing that today is the day you need to eat a toad, isn't it best just to chomp it down and be done with it, rather than spending the whole day bummed out because you know, sooner or later, you have to eat that toad? She's right, of course. And I realize that one reason happiness may be eluding me these days is because of all the odious tasks I've allowed to mount up .instead of just taking care of business. I have more than one toad hopping around me, and sidestepping them all is making me very weary.
So, help me tie on my bib. I have some toads to eat.
More to come.....
