Clearing Clutter Support Group Week 7

An interesting week!!  Special Guests, inspiration, and ah ha moments !!!

We had four guests come today from the Clutter Clearer’s Peer Support Group.  This group meets every Friday in a local coffee shop and all are graduates of the CCSG.   They have been meeting now for almost two years and have developed a model that is working for them.   They shared their stories about who they are, what they are up to, what they hope to achieve and some of their success stories.  The group members talked about breaking down the social stigma, isolation and shame that comes with clutter and hoarding and they compared it to shedding old skins.  I love that!!  This group is so inspirational, positive and supportive of each other.  The four guests took turns talking as the group encourages a shared leadership approach.  One of the current members said “wow, you are all so organized”.  Well, this elicited some huge laughter as the Peer Group mentioned that no one has ever said that to them EVER!!!  Current group members are all welcome to join them when they finish the eight week session.

One of the group participants brought in a greeting card that she had purchase which she wanted to share.  This card was a great metaphor for what everyone has been feeling which is basically a big overwhelm.   She related it to all of the individual bags, boxes and things she has in her  that home that just keep multiplying as time goes on.   She said she is motivated to get this number down and to have her surroundings look more like the third picture.  People are so creative!!!

I love it when participants have great ah ha moments and this happens a lot during the course of the group.  One woman said she bought an item at a thrift shop (it was an Easter thing, I think) and she said it was beautiful.  I think it was 50 cents.  She put it on a dresser near her bed and the next day she was looking at this thing and thinking “why did I think this thing was so beautiful?” Wow!!!  Can you relate to that?  I think we have all been there.   Do you ever think to yourself, well it is only 50 cents so what is the harm in that?

Another member who likes to visit Talize (a thrift shop) on a regular basis for company, something to do,  brings home items and spends money there has just secured a position on the Board at the Goodwill which I think will be meaningful activity for her and help to create a shift in her behaviour.  She said she will plan to take donations there everytime she attends a meeting.

So, this week we looked at how do we stay motivated?  That can be so challenging as de-cluttering and staying that way is an ongoing process.  It isn’t a static thing where we can say “well, I did some de-cluttering, I downsized some stuff and now its all good” So how do we keep ourselves motivated?? This is a great brainstorming exercise.  What helps you to be motivated?

We talked about Clothing…….ugh!!!….this is an issue that always comes up in our groups and is a challenge for most of us.   Everyone seems to be able to relate to a laundry issue or difficulties with sorting the clean laundry and getting it into the closet or the empty drawers.   We talked about the “hanger method”.   At the beginning of each season you put all of your clothing on the hangers facing the same way and as you wear each item you turn the hanger so that at the end of the season you can see what hasn’t been worn and then make a decision about that item of clothing.

We discussed Community Resources in our area and of course talked about homework and challenges for this week.

Stay Tuned for Week 8 when we will be looking at the progress that everyone in the group has made.  It’s time to celebrate!!