I have been feeling down for a few weeks. Probably longer, but who keeps track of such things? Could be Seasonal Affective Disorder, could be just January blues. In my early January blog, I mentioned I had started a 12-week program to unblock my creativity. That is going OK, if a bit slow. There is no way I can do the recommended exercises in the time suggested, but I am hopeful that I will see results. But it will take more than 12 weeks. This program is not helping my mood though, and in fact one of the exercises actually caused me to become a bit more depressed. I went out and bought some “fun” items that might spark some creative work, but instead, I was disappointed by the purchase and realized I had just added more “stuff” to my already overfilled space. This reality hit me this morning, and I decided I needed to do something about it. To be fair, we did try to declutter last winter, setting aside Tuesdays as “declutter day”. Of course, it didn’t take many weeks to have something come up on a Tuesday that prevented the decluttering from happening, then the following week something else happened, and there went that great plan. Let’s face it, decluttering is not fun. One of my problems is that I won’t start something if I don’t have a “system” to keep on track. Which means that often I don’t start. A classic case of “perfect” getting in the way of “good enough”. I know this is a textbook form of procrastination, but I am what I am! So of course I started on my quest for a decluttering “system” I could live with (I have read Mari Kondo’s book, but I stopped when she suggested I get rid of my books!! Not going to happen!) I remember reading some time back that clutter can make us depressed, or at least anxious. It might have been Mari Kondo, or it may have been someone else, but I believe it. So I went on the internet (of course!) to do a bit of reading on the topic, hoping to gather munitions for building my “system”. Lucky for me, it didn’t take long. Googling “depression and too much stuff” reminded me that the word I was looking for was “clutter”. So after rewording my search, I found this article, as the first “hit”: https://nourishingminimalism.com/clutter-depression-and-anxiety-a-vicious-cycle/ If you have any struggles with too much stuff, anxiety, or depression, I strongly encourage you to read it. The first revelation to me was that I am not alone! What a relief! Although we all strive to be “unique” (especially as creatives), it is comforting to know that we are not unique in our struggles. I found that the author (Rachel Jones) also runs a decluttering challenge and, in addition to having designed a clever “system” (a simple but powerful motivational checklist that I can use “as is”), she has created a Facebook group to go along with it! https://www.facebook.com/groups/nourishingminimalismyearlydeclutteringchallenge What could be better for someone like me who is "a bit" competitive? But who also needs support and motivation! I have of course joined and have already found comfort in reading some of the posts of fellow strugglers! If you struggle with clutter and the way it makes you feel, won’t you consider joining me, either for the 2023 challenge, the Facebook group, or both? We could encourage each other as we progress! And if you have tackled clutter and won, I would love to hear how you did it!
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AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
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