Garage Makeover

The whole right side of their garage was filled with a mass of sporting goods clutter. A rowing machine was hidden under various ropes and elastic stretching devices. There was a tipped over golf bag which had spilled the clubs into the various gaps of space. Three bikes with flat tires lay on their sides. Half of the items in the piles were still in the original packaging. The weights appeared to be rusting. The couple was not able to park their other car into the garage because of the space the sports clutter cornucopia took over.

The couple was overwhelmed and miserable. They didn’t know what to do to feel better. I asked them about each of the items and they hesitated about saying whether they needed it or not. They kept talking about how they wanted to use these items because they had heard how great they were. Yet, still they weren’t using them. They were listening to what others had told them to do, and weren’t listening to what they felt like doing. I asked them what kind of exercise they get now. They guiltily said they don’t exercise. I knew they had two dogs. I asked them if they walk the dogs every day. They lit up and said yes. They revealed that they walk their dogs in the hills behind their home an hour twice a day. I told them that’s exercise. They were surprised. I said they could let the sporting goods go because they weren’t using them and they are already exercising. They were relieved. They looked happy for the first time since I’d met them. They were personally realigned. They donated all the sporting goods equipment and were able to park their car in the garage again.

When there’s an empty feeling in our lives we feel a compulsion to fill it. Sometimes it’s with a person, sometimes it’s with food, and sometimes it’s with stuff. We are taught and trained by TV commercials, billboards, magazine ads, web ads, and radio commercials that we will feel happy when we buy something and bring it into our lives. So when we feel empty and low, the mind goes, “let’s buy _____. When I get ____ I will feel better and everything will be okay.” The problem is the feeling is temporary and the empty feeling comes back and then we get the same kind of thought again to go out and make another purchase and acquire another “thing”. Soon our lives are surrounded by clutter. We no longer feel good when we come home. Our living space becomes a place to house all these things. And since we are not feeling happy because of this we get the compulsion to go and get another thing.

When you find yourself in this situation, maybe you get the feeling that it’s time for a clutter makeover. You stop and say, “No, I’m not going to buy another thing right now. I don’t need something else. I am discovering that getting more things is not making me feel better. It’s actually making me feel worse. “ In the same way you look at a painting in a museum, stop for a second and take a “look” at the empty feeling that was the cause of this situation. This feeling is a thing because you can observe it. Be aware of its qualities. What size is it? Is it fuzzy or clear? What color is it? Is it 3D or 2D? That feeling is going to still be there if you buy that dress or TV or CD or… When you take this time to observe the feeling you notice it begins to fade. It loses its hold. You start to breathe easier. As the feeling fades, it’s replaced by the quality of peacefulness. And it turns out that all you were ever looking for.

Brooks Palmer created Clutter Busting to help people let go of things they no longer need. In his eight years of Clutter Busting in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, Brooks has learned first-hand about the intense emotional connection most people have with material possessions, and has consistently found that internal clutter must be addressed before external clutter can be discarded. Since 2000, Brooks has been helping people through this process.