Those of us who "own" dogs are well aware of the laughable amount of control we exercise over our canine buddies.
We may call ourselves "the master/mistress/alpha dog " or whatever, but when the kibble gets poured, and the treats are handed out, a more appropriate moniker might be "I've been had."
Take for instance the relative of mine who claims she's trained Rugby to come to her door, rain or shine, bark loudly at precisely 8 a.m. (whether she's out of bed or not) to receive his dog cookie. My thought here is, "Who's trained whom?"
Or the dear friend with a small white dog. Before it is possible to greet this friend, one must love the little dog, accept her wet kisses and praise her beauty - or she will bark nonstop and loudly until such obeisances have been made.
Or the many mornings I've woken up with Pippi on my/our pillow, her beautiful golden brown eyes staring into mine. One slight movement on my part leads her to herd me in the direction of the treats bag until - surprise surprise! - I give her one.
I bring up this imperfect union of dog and human because it reminds me of another imperfect union - between ourselves and our stuff.
I have helped many people clear out their stuff in my role as their organizer. I see people agonizing over an item that seemed like a good idea at the time; an item never or rarely used; an item that may or may not have cost a lot of money (doesn't matter usually); but the presence of this item causes many feelings of regret, sadness, coulda/woulda/shoulda - all truly disproportionate to its importance in the great scheme of things. I'm often wondering, "Who owns whom here?"
Or the way that a bunch of stuff can truly suck the life energy out of a person - kind like a Dementor in the Harry Potter books - leaving a poor Muggle trembling in front of the pile of clutter - overwhelmed, confused, brought to their knees by the thought of "Where, oh where, do I begin?"
These imperfect unions, between dogs, stuff and humans, are made even more poignant by the fact that at one point a decision was made. That decision ran like this:
· Yes, I want that dog.
Yes, I want that cherry pitter.
Of course I'll use a bread machine.
I absolutely want to keep all the Pottery Barn catalogs - such great ideas!
I will get around to scrapbooking my children's photos.
I love a dog that needs a ton of exercise - it will inspire me to get out too!
The good news here about stuff is that a decision was made to allow it into our lives - and a decision can be made to remove it as well.
It's not that easy to remove a dog from our lives; often quite traumatic as a matter of fact.But as for stuff; a little training and support from your organizer goes a long way in clutter taming. Just like dog training is mostly about the dog owner, clutter taming is about the relationship between material objects and ourselves - it's not about the stuff, really.
If you're feeling like you'd love to become the "top dog" in your home, regarding stuff, that is, I suggest you give us a call. We've got some great strategies, bred from experience, that have made a big difference in the imperfect union between our clutter and ourselves. Now, don't get all droopy-tailed on me - it is possible to create a peaceful, orderly environment - that is, until the dog comes in from her walk, covered in mud. Good luck on that one!
Interested in more ways to clear clutter and gain control of your environment? Get great tips and motivating messages by subscribing to the Empty Your Nest newsletter at http://www.emptyyournest.com
