Friday, November 26, 2010

Clutter ... the Concept, the Condition, and the Cause

My persistent failing is too much clutter .... in everything I do.... so the quote below I need to take to heart and try to reduce my tendencies to clutter ...

"

Clutter.
In art, it's often what you take out, not what you put in. As a general rule, artists need to smile on simplicity and frown on the extraneous.

"
Clutter quote above would apply to home interior spaces, outdoor landscaping, writing prose or poetry, or dressing yourself to step out for that special event .... It even affects how you do your grocery shopping and how you eat.  Clutter takes control gradually until there you are captive in its clutter clutches!

Clutter is not only a concept but a state of mind.  My mind usually is filled to overflowing.  When I make a pot of soup I always fill the pot too full because my mind wants to continue to add interesting other ingredients. Clutter collects in closets, then in garages, and then the whole house room by room.  

My glass is never half empty or half full .... it is overflowing LOL .... Clutter is crazy .... clutter threatens and overtakes your sanity .... that is why asylums and hospitals are clean, sparsely furnished or not at all (you may just have a cell with four walls and not even a suitable toilet or sink facility .... but it is very therapeutic... your mind now unloads its state of confused chaotic clutter).  Zen and other meditation focuses on getting rid of mental and environment clutter with positive improvement to your spirit, mind, and body. 

Clutter is also how you manage or fail to manage your time .... work alcoholics' ( sufferers of obsessive/compulsive clutter disorder) fail to give necessary space and balance to their work and activities .. they are always VERY BUSY!  "Don't bother me .... I am busy!!!" .... They are too busy for their families, too busy for anything except thinking about their work.... needless to say they have a high divorce rate. 

Clutter seems to be more of a country charm thing than an urban sophisticate problem.  Clutter also seems to correlate with income level.  The poorer your are the less space you can afford for your "valuables" so they get crowded together.  The homeless always seem to push their grocery cart along the street piled high and overflowing with their possessions. If you are poor, whatever you have is a valuable possession and hard to replace plus you tend to receive things others didn't want and gave to you and it  is rude to not value their generosity. The richer you are the more empty your elite estates are perhaps because they have housekeepers who dislike doing the work it takes to clean a lot of accessories or a lot of furniture to move.  The rich are always away a lot traveling and socializing.  They consider the world their own to enjoy via their private jets and alternate residences.  They have learned to travel lightly. Collectors may also succumb to the dreaded clutter disorder because they don't seem to ever have enough in their collection.

Clutter is so common. Those afflicted with the big "C+"  have lots of company who share their same "C+" condition and problem. Being too materialistic, too sentimental, or too afraid to throw anything way, give it away, thinking you might one day need it are symptoms of the "C+" clutter-out-of-control unbalanced person.  Clutter is acquired and learned sometimes as a young child influenced to become similarly afflicted because that is how your family or favorite relative chose to live and maybe had their reasons for their exhibiting clutter in their home, their life, and their environment. As a child you saw nothing wrong with the cluttered mind, life, or lifestyle environment.  It was messy enough to be happy and clean enough to be healthy ..... it was filled with interesting things to see, play with, and enjoy.You learned full was a good thing, and empty a sad thing.

Well, now, I confess.  I am an incurable, clutterly insane, "C+" person.  But I'm happy... because that is the way I have always been and see no reason to change at my age.  But you should change if you believe clutter is bad for the many reasons I have given above.  Change is good, healthy, and helps you improve your life. If you change then perhaps I will too!

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