The Bigger Picture: A while ago a reader sent me a very warm appreciation, and asked if I might write an article on "de-cluttering".
"What I good idea," I thought, "but not me." My environment was extremely cluttered. The very thought of "getting rid" of stuff shot panic into my stomach, cold chills up my shoulders and neck and generally made it difficult for me to breathe. How could I even half pretend to offer insight on the subject?
However, after more than a year's concerted effort, I have learned a little about the art of clear living. And now you will be graced with my thoughts on the subject as a result.
"Clutter" has two aspects to it: disorder and excess.
No matter how much the chaos is considered "organised" or the items within it "important", their presence and position indicate a greater problem, usually involving a personal struggle - for time, self-belief or confidence in one's thinking.
Although we are aware that "a cluttered environment is the sign of a cluttered mind", many of us start out feeling clear of mind. We are just "overwhelmingly busy".
This society is characterised by working too hard with minimal support and too little resources.
As a result, we can't get everything done and leave a lot for "later".
The problem is, we rarely get the chance to come back to it, and anxiety starts to set in about what we might actually do with it.
Each "pile" now involves an emotional investment. We no longer think straight and the clutter takes on a life of its own.
There is another kind of clutter, not stemming from disorder, but involving excess: sentiment. Things have meaning for us. Presents, cards and trinkets remind us of places, people and times in our lives; sometimes even our history and people. They are things that make us feel good about ourselves, or we hoped would. And so, we hang on to them.
I grew up with an added struggle: "responsibility".
If someone sent me a card, I felt it was respectful to them if I kept it. If manufacturers created too much packaging and some of it was "useful" (strong plastic, good cardboard, rubber bands, etc), I felt I had to find ways to use it.
In this way, I took personal responsibility for anything that ever came into my care - for the sake of the environment and human dignity.
While this was neurotic, it was my only way of having some control over a world gone mad with thoughtlessness and waste.
No matter how "noble" or "reasonable" the roots of my clutter might have been, however, the outcome was the same: too much stuff grating on your mental flexibility, your emotional lightness and your general piece of mind.
There is a truth about clutter: without intervention, the excess grows rather than diminishes.
Its shear presence is exhausting. Mostly, it is unfinished business - a roster of old work, eating into the present and future. With it, we create and nurture emotional baggage. Everything in our life becomes harder to do.
Inevitably, clutter reflects a struggle.
If we weren't aware of it before our decline into chaos, we must become aware of it now.
Not only does feeling awful about ourselves cause us to lose the motivation or extra strength required to clarify our lives, but living in clutter makes it impossible to feel good about ourselves.
It is at moments like these that we need greater supports and more loving perspectives to be built into our lives. And as much as we need love, understanding and trust from the people around us, we also need to foster these qualities in ourselves.
Without this core foundation, we cannot believe in our values or ourselves enough to clear away the excess that surrounds us but has no real meaning.
It is the events of our lives that have substance - that bring a greater vitality to us - not the objects we might buy. And so, as much as "things" may carry meaning for us, the "absence of things" should also have meaning.
The key to de-cluttering is shifting your definition of yourself from the objects in your life to the moments of your life.
That is not to say you can't keep anything, but that what you keep should be worth it. This means making a decision about materialism. Having excessive amounts of things has never made things better. It's the quality of our relationships that do that. Pruning our life opens up the opportunity to grow.
It is also worth mentioning that a clear environment improves your physical health. Less stuff in a space means more room for air and greater air circulation. It also means less dust and mites, and the room is easier to clean. This makes a difference, with hygiene being the first pillar of naturopathy.
Most important, however, is the fact that clearing your surroundings clears your mind. It frees you from your past, and gives you space to create in the future.
•Shalini Sinha practises life coaching and the Bowen Technique in her clinic, Forward Movement.