in your closet my job is to hunt them
down and bring them into the light I
spend my days crawling under beds and
through forgotten attics on the hunt for
the scariest monster in your home your
clutter I’m a professional organizer my
job is to go into your home and get rid
of clutter and chaos and I love what I
do I know it sounds a little crazy but
boxes and labels and categories make me
way happier than they probably should
but it feels amazing when you help
someone transform their space to be
beautiful and functional but my work is
actually really scary for people because
to do it I have to go into the areas of
your home that you don’t want anyone to
go into the junk drawer in the kitchen
yeah oh that’s not even bad yet the
garage that can’t be parked in anyone
yeah we got two hands over there the
room of abyss you know the one the room
at the back of the hallway that no one’s
allowed to go into like ever
yeah but clutter is even scarier now
because it’s moved beyond the physical
stuff it’s not just piles of paper and
kitchen gadgets it’s also our
never-ending list of to do’s our
jam-packed calendars even our Netflix
queue was out to get us these days when
I first started hunting the clutter
monster the job seemed pretty clear find
the clutter and get rid of it easy right
not so easy it kept coming back over and
over again clearly something wasn’t
working so one day I decided that I
would take a different approach and
actually get to know the clutter monster
instead to do this
I had to remove my judgment and see past
its frightening facade and it worked the
clutter monster now speaks to me in a
way that he doesn’t talk to most people
clutter speaks and you should listen to
it now when I tell people this they
usually think that their clutter is
saying awful things about them that
they’re lazy or disorganized that is
never what it says never I want to help
you learn to listen to your clutter
because only when we truly understand
something are we able to set it free and
your clutter has a lot to say every
single thing in your home has a voice
but when we get too many of those
together all at once it’s like a
thousand people screaming at us how your
clutter speaks to you can feel
overwhelming but what your clutter has
to say it’s life-changing I want to tell
you about a client of mine
Trisha wanted help organizing her
kitchen she reminded me of a hummingbird
she was petite and slender constantly
racing around she never sat down and she
never at all hardly said a word when I
met her she had been married for 20
years to Paul a kind man with this
larger-than-life personality who was
never at a loss for things to say their
kitchen counters were flooded with piles
of paper kitchen gadgets vitamins dishes
condiments together the three of us
cleaned and organized every square inch
of that kitchen and at the end of our
time together it looked perfect almost
perfect at the edge of the counter near
the stove there was this tiny broken
teacup hey Trisha
what’s going on with this cup is it
meant to be kept or donated Trisha
looked at Paul then she looked down hey
Paul what’s the story with this cup it’s
all her fault
she broke it that was my favorite cup
it’s there so she knows that I know that
what she did is wrong roof Tricia
gasped do you remember the movie The
Exorcist where the little girls
possessed in her head spins around
Dallas Tricia I saw something shift in
her it was like a light turned on I did
not break that cup heap did I won’t take
responsibility for it I’m not touching
it Wow good communication you guys yeah
finally talking so how long has this cup
been here for they both looked down and
away a week silence a month one year for
one year a silent feud raged between
them fueled everyday but his tiny little
cup to live together they had to cover
that cup with as much clutter ketchup
chaos and vitamin D as that kitchen
would hold because they were going to
kill each other if they didn’t clatter
speaks that Cup was Tricia saying I want
to be heard that cop tells the story of
a woman who does not feel safe to be
seen or heard in her own home she could
say with her stuff what she could not
I need to be honest with you organizing
your clutter is not some silver bullet
that’s gonna solve all your problems
sometimes it reveals your problems like
it did with Tricia and in case you
weren’t worried enough about your
clutter here’s another fun clutter fact
for you
clutter tells your secrets now this is
not going to win me any dinner party
invites so don’t worry I’m not expecting
anything but I can walk into your house
and with a single look know the state of
your life who’s madly in love who’s in
financial chaos and who wears the pants
in your family I can’t tell you how many
times I was hired to organize a closet
when what I was really there to do was
help someone decide if they want to stay
married quit their job or move to Maui
not because they told me so but because
they’re clutter did another client of
mine James had inherited a whole load of
family clutter when his aunt passed away
and he needed help going through it
James lived in LA and he was living the
dream he was handsome and successful he
gave me a tour of his house it was
beautiful it looked like a magazine
cover
I wondered honestly if I was there by
mistake because I mean where was the
clutter until we turned down a hallway
and approached a closed door this
confidence man this man who was
confident suddenly looked like a nervous
child he took a deep breath and pushed
open the door to his bedroom there was
the clutter a giant wall of boxes
stopped the door from fully opening and
completely blocked one side of the bed
and that was when I saw something that
stopped me in my tracks one side of the
bed looked fine someone had clearly been
sleeping there but the other side of the
bed was completely covered with
magazines candy bar wrappers paperwork
and laundry hey James can you tell me a
little bit about this clutter please
sure it’s the stuff from my aunt I
didn’t have anywhere else to put it
no James not the boxes that’s more of a
project I’m talking about the bed I find
it interesting that the only clutter you
have in the entire house is not only in
your bedroom but in the bed itself no
one is making friends with a question
like that just saying not man looked at
me with daggers like I was asking to see
inside of his soul James the bedroom is
the Center for romance and intimacy and
I know it may seem like a bit of a jump
but is there any reason why you would be
afraid to be in a romantic relationship
he turned away you could tell he was
thinking something through and then he
started to cry James are you okay the
last woman I loved
destroyed me I cannot do that again that
is when clutter speaks when the pain is
too great and we just don’t have the
words the clutter on that bed was
screaming love is dangerous James’s
clutter in that wall of boxes was
protecting his heart keeping him single
and safe clutter does for us what we
can’t do for ourselves so what’s your
do this with me I want you to go right
now into your home and your mind’s eye
and see your clutter something that
feels chaotic and shameful they have
when was the last time you really made
contact with those items a year five
years 1982 are you ready to have a
conversation with that box you haven’t
opened in 10 years when I go into
people’s homes
they are usually embarrassed mortified
by their clutter and what others might
think about them but the far greater
fear is actually what their clutter
means about them and how they feel about
themselves
you see they fear that they are their
clutter and in this way our greatest
fear is true we are the monster we are
our stuff I am my stuff you are your
stuff your stuff is a mirror of you it’s
a collection of your hopes dreams and
experiences it’s also a demonstration of
the unique way your mind works that’s
not something to fear that’s an
incredibly powerful force to harness and
use and crafting your life making peace
with your clutter is making peace with
I want to tell you a secret I don’t care
what your house looks like I don’t care
if you ever get organized or if your
house looks picture-perfect and I don’t
care about your stuff I care about you I
am a healer I use clutter to help you
heal your greatest wounds for me
organizing is like an archeological dig
of your heart through your house I’m
here to help you remember your
brilliance because that’s what I see
not your clock chaos and clutter I see
you and I love it all of it the good and
the bad I love your humanity and yeah I
love your clutter because clutter is an
external demonstration of our internal
storms it represents and demonstrates
unresolved lessons and feelings in our
lives
all of these exists whether that clutter
is there or not and if we don’t handle
these feelings and lessons they will pop
up somewhere else in our lives that’s
for sure
not everyone faces their monster through
clutter some use food or love or money
or work I don’t struggle
I don’t struggle with clutter but
believe me I have my own issues we all
do clutter or whatever you struggle with
is an incredible teacher because if you
listen truly listen to what it’s saying
it will show you your own personal
roadmap to healing and relief clutter
brought James out of isolation two years
after we tore down that wall of boxes he
met and married an amazing woman
they’ve been happily married for eight
and clutter awakened Trish’s voice it
showed her what she needed to do to
thrive in her life and marriage and the
next year launched her into a career as
a therapist where she now helps other
women find their own powerful voice
every single day Thank You teacup
but transformations aren’t always so
extreme sometimes you get closure or
relief or inner peace which is actually
the most life-changing of all because
who cares what the outside looks like
clutter is an invitation to heal there
are valleys we have to walk through to
heal fully and become our best selves
these are blessings not curses that is
the gift that clutter gives you the
monsters in your closet their real face
your clutter monster head-on have a
conversation with yourself through your
stuff you’ll be surprised to find that
what you thought was a monster under the
bed is simply a dust bunny because your
clutter looks scary
but when you listen to what it’s saying
you will find that it is actually a
friend a hero a savior it will liberate
you rock your world and make your life
better
clutter speaks it’s talking to you be grateful it has so much to say thank you