My husband and I recently moved back home. "Home" is now a smaller space, since--in the year we were away--my adult daughter moved into an attached apartment (space we previously had used as a TV room and an extra kitchen and bathroom). Dealing with the move and trying to squeeze so much "stuff" into a smaller space has been overwhelming for me. The job seemed impossible. If a job is not doable, I feel less inclined to tackle it. Linda has helped to make the job manageable. She brings a sense of order to the chaos with her insightful questions and encouraging comments. She keeps me working on it and helps me see progress, however small.
Linda has a way about her that is totally accepting--you don't mind letting her see the mess and clutter and the dust dinosaurs that you live with. She seems to be completely non-judgmental, which removes the embarrassment factor from an already challenging job. While I desperately needed help, I certainly didn't want to feel embarrassed for asking for it. With Linda, that's not a concern. She's all about joining you to fight a common enemy (the accumulation of clutter) and teaching you ways to keep the enemy at bay in the future. She doesn't simply help you clear up your living space; she also wants you to feel pride in and enjoy your home. Linda is helping me change not only my home's physical space, but also my mental and emotional outlook regarding my home and all that it means to me.
Linda helps me to see the humor in the mess that I see throughout my house. Her light-hearted approach keeps me from feeling "buried" by all my stuff.
At the top of my stairwell on the second floor, a lime-green thermos sat for about 8 years. That was the time between visits from out-of-state friends who forgot the thermos and left it here. After their first visit, I placed the thermos at the top of the stairs so that I would remember to ship it back to them. Eight years later, they came back to visit. The irony is that--when they were here for their second visit--I failed to remember to return it to them. After so much time I could no longer "see" the thermos/clutter there. With Linda's help in restoring my "eyesight," as well as my vision for a clutter-free home, the thermos has been removed from the top of my stairwell and donated for someone else to use.
Before I met Linda, one of my favorite techniques for de-cluttering was what I call the "sweep" method. When company was coming and the dining room table was filled with papers and various small items, I would sweep everything into a plastic bag and then stash the bag in the basement or attic until "later." Later never came, and now I have all kinds of bags filling space in my basement and attic. In this clean-up I discovered a 10-year-old $20 gift certificate from J. C. Penney's! Linda has taught me a better way to deal with paper as it comes into my house.
