Its summer now and with my son out of school and in the house many more hours than when he was in school during the day, I've noticed that I'm innudated with things being everywhere. The shoes left at the front door…and the back door, clothes dropped in his room, the video game boxes that are spread all over the sofa and many more examples show up every day.

All of a sudden clutter is on my mind! And when that happens, I get interested in what it all means.

What is clutter? Clutter are items that accumulate in our  environments -too much stuff without any organization.

From the perspective of feng shui, clutter can represent several things - confusion, obstacles and/or old outdated fears, beliefs and attitudes. In fact, one of the first things I was advised when I first had my office feng shui was to remove at least 27 items that were serving no purpose, could be put away or thrown away. Have you ever done that? It felt great doing it and basking in my new found office space afterwards was glorious. I practice the discipline of that often and each time it changes my experience of my life.

Its easy to see outward forms of clutter and I wondered if that was the only kind or if what clutter represents could take and came across a book "10 minute Clutter Control" by Skye Alexander. In it I read one of the best layman's explanations of clutter above and beyond my son's shoes in the living room.

In her book she speaks about the areas where clutter can affect the quality of our lives -

    1. Home Clutter - things out of place, more things than an area is designed to hold

    2. Work/Office Clutter - stacks of folders, CDs, magazines etc

    3. Activity Clutter - multi-tasking through our day, reading the paper, listening to our children or spouses, watch TV and eat breakfast ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

    4. Relationship Clutter - spending time with people we'd rather not - other people's problems taking over much of our time and energy without our knowing it

    5. Mental Clutter - thinking multiple thoughts at the time same time - if I think I don't know what that means I try to meditate or hold ONE thought and it doesn't take long before other thoughts crowd in.

     6. Atmospheric Clutter - leftover energetic vibrations from persons who previously spent time in your home or office

If there's an area that grabs your attention, it would be beneficial to notice it and then to examine what that clutter means for you. For instance, the conversation about ACTIVITY CLUTTER grabbed my attention. I desire to experience a sense of accomplishment at the end of most of my days - often I don't sense that .  So I'm going to spend the day tracking my activities on a sheet of paper. What are essential daily activities, enjoyable activities, optional activities, and obligatory activites? Am I out of balance or do I hold the thought that I am? Do I spend my day in alignment with my intentions?

"10 minute Clutter Control" is a fascinating and easy read yet extremely practical, I felt empowered reading it and couldn't wait to start my day.

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Carolyn Holzman