I had the honour of attending the Clearing Clutter “Peer Support Group” last Friday morning. This group meets weekly at a local coffee shop and is for anyone who has attended the eight week group. The group has now been meeting since last April and is being run by the members.
Recently, a woman who had attended two eight week sessions was killed in a tragic accident. I received a call from a previous group member with the news and had to ask her to repeat herself as it was so shocking and sad to hear. I made myself available to attend the funeral and there were about eight women there to honour the woman who had passed away. I had tears in my eyes as I walked in and saw all of those women.
Afterwards they started to share what has been happening in their lives and because of the group. They have been allowing each other into their homes, they are helping and supporting each other, they call each other to keep themselves accountable or to help get past a difficult situation and they continue to meet weekly.
I am very fortunate that they invite me to join them on occasion and I am so impressed by how well they are all doing. Their group consists of weekly check ins, challenges they set for themselves and report on, discussion on a topic that comes up in the group and then a check out with each persons challenge written down for the next week. There was a lot of laughter and the theme as each person checked in was that of gratitude for this group and each other and how the group has helped them to move forward and to be able to make progress and to maintain that progress. Group members have made some great strides, one woman was able to give up her storage unit, there are offers of help ie: barter system, five hours of kitchen help for help with putting up a Christmas tree, phone support for each other and the fact that these women are no longer isolated or alone with their struggles.
The group members meet for lunch after the group and have developed an amazing friendship.
If you or someone you know is struggling with clutter and/or chronic disorganization (and are in the London, ON area) the next group will be offered on Fridays, January 17 – March 7, meets from 9:30 – 11:30 in a local Branch Library. Please contact me for more details.
