Do you have books in your home or in your office? Are they on shelves? By now some of you are laughing because while some of the books may be on shelves, they are likely also in piles on the floor, on tables, or on any other flat surface. In Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston challenges us with these thoughts,

"...the problem with holding on to old books is that it doesn't allow you to create space for new ideas and ways of thinking to come into your life. Your books symbolically represent your ideas and beliefs, and when you have too many of them sitting on booksehlves in your home, you become set in your ways and develop fusty energy like the fusty old books you surround yourself with....Aim to end up with a collection of books that represents you as you are today and the intended 'you' of tomorrow."

Do you have any collections? Are they deliberate or did they just happen? Karen Kingston notes, "The art of understanding collections is to find out why you are doing it, learn from it, and then move on. Don't limit yourself. Make space for something new to come into your life. Don't be a Hector the Collector allyour life without every realizing why." Now I don't believe that Karen is saying that we should never have or keep a collection. I feel that she is saying that sometimes we continue to collect things without even being aware of it, and then the collection takes up a huge amount of space (and gathers a great deal of dust).

The process of "deleting" extra items from our space often causes anxiety and grief before we feel the freedom of having less stuff. In her book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston states, "The process of clearing clutter is all about letting go. Not just letting go of your belongings - that is only the end result. The most important thing is learning to let go of the fear that keeps you holding on to them after it is time to move them on their way." What are you afraid of:

• Losing a memory?
• Dying because you don't have something? (okay, maybe an overstatement, but many people believe that life as they know it won't go on if they don't have X item)
• Landing in jail?
• Not being able to lose weight?

I am writing a little in extremes because there are truly few things that we might delete that would lead to severe consequences. Instead of being caught in a cycle of fear whenever you try to declutter, look forward to the feeling of freedom when you are able to find things when you need them.

If you are hesitant about using PayPal, I have found an inexpensive way to give you an extra layer of protection. It is called the PayPal Security Key. It generates a temporary six-digit security code every 30 seconds. You type in the code after your password when you sign in to your account.  The security key costs $5 including shipping and handling. I found out about it when I had a charge to my PayPal account that I hadn't made. Fortunately, the "recipient" was a friend of mine who didn't actually charge my account and who had no idea how it happened.

Do you have a wonder woman in your life? It might be a friend, a relative, a spouse. It is someone who seems to be able to do anything and everything. They maximize their time each day. Why do I bring this up on an organizing blog? Well, during a recent trip, I looked in the Sky Mall magazine and they advertised a Wonder Woman bracelet-an exact repliica of the one worn by Lynda Carter in the series. They claimed it was a great gift for "the Wonder Woman in your life". I would submit that rather than giving a bracelet (which would probably not be worn but would just gather dust), give something like a gift certificate for a massage, manicure, pedicure, or something else that would pamper your wonder woman rather than just add to her jewelry collection.

If you are concerned about the environment or like to save money, you may have changed to energy efficient compact fluorescent lights. However, you may not realize the danger associated with their breakage or disposal due to the mercury they contain.

If a fluorescent bulb breaks, do air out the room for 15 minutes and shut off central air or heating so mercury doesn't spread. Do scoop up the fragments and powder with cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag. Do clean the area with damp paper towels and place in the same plastic bag. Don't use a vacuum cleaner or broom. Don't get mercury on your clothes or you will need to seal them in plastic and dispose of them.

So I just found out about something called the 100 Thing Challenge. An article in Time Magazine called How to Live With Just 100 Things talks about why Dave Bruno started this challenge, which has now started a whole movement. You can find out more about his rules for the 100 Thing Challenge on his website. So that most of you aren't scared right away, the 100 Things only includes personal property, not items that are co-owned or that are necessities such as a bed.

Do you have stress in your life? Do you know the sources of your stress? You may answer: too much to do, children, parents, work, etc. Would you agree that some of the stress may be associated with the physical stuff in your world? You enter your office and feel defeated by the piles on your desk. You walk into your kitchen and can't prepare a meal because there isn't any counter space. Your bedroom is so full of stuff that it isn't a restful place in which to sleep. Judith Forsyth states, "To reduce stress in your life, reduce your attachment to things." So how do you go about reducing the stuff in your life? There are lots of ways to proceed.

The other day a gentleman named John H. Robinson stated, "We only own what we give away, everything else owns us." This caused me to think about all of the stuff people have. Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of possessions in your space? If you have trouble deleting stuff from your space, then it owns you rather than the other way around. Since much of the stuff we own is attached to memories, thus making it difficult to part with, consider the best way to preserve the memory while deleting the actual item.

With fruits and vegetables rising in price, it has become important to eat them rather than throw them away. You may have seen the commercials for Debbie Meyer GreenBags and wondered if they work. I have it on good authority, both from a client and a colleague, that they do. If you are unfamiliar with green bags, they greatly extend the life of fresh fruits and vegetables, enabling you to eat healthier without creating waste while saving money! For more information, go to the » read more | login or register to post comments