Clutter Blindness!
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
By Marilyn Mars / Santa Fe, New Mexico
A paradox that has always fascinated me, while working with people in their homes as a clutter-clearing practitioner, is that we get used to seeing things so often that we no longer see them anymore. It can be as simple as a kitchen cabinet filled with mugs. You grab your favorite one while the others sit stagnantly waiting their turn as the years go by. Or a stack of magazines you keep hoping to “read someday” and there they sit unnoticed as you walk around them like you would a piece of furniture. Maybe it’s a sewing machine you inherited from your grandmother that’s been sitting in a corner for over a decade.
Clutter blindness is a phenomenon where you become so accustomed to the clutter in your environment that you stop noticing it altogether. The crowded counter, the piles of mail, the overflowing closet with clothes that haven’t seen the light in years become such a normal part of your daily routine that you become blind to them. The more time you spend in a space, the more you get used to seeing it that way and it becomes the norm. Your brain begins to filter it out. But what I’ve found is that when you become aware of your space and consciously make changes, it can open new possibilities in your life.
I had a client whom I’ll call Henry who felt like no matter how hard he worked or how talented he was, he continued to hit walls when it came to his work world. We decided to take a look at his office space together. The first thing I asked Henry was what did the faceless man mean to him? He said, ‘what faceless man’? He had a painting of a man without a face hanging near his desk. This item was a gift from an artist he liked years ago. Henry had stopped seeing it. The faceless man represented a man without a presence.
In his office, Henry was surrounded by clutter and had many other items that represented emptiness to him. In my experience, clutter blindness happens in homes and offices for various reasons. Often it occurs as people experience some form of trauma or stress. They become overwhelmed and the outer environment reflects what’s happening in a person’s life. Henry’s office had become cluttered from the stress of lack of job opportunities. The hodgepodge continued to build up and not only was there no room for what he wanted in his life, his space was continually reflecting his invisibility.
We did a thorough clutter-clear of his office over a number of days which gave his office a lighter feeling. He decided to let the painting of the faceless man go, since it had no meaning to him anymore. He said he felt like he could breathe again. We even added a few items that made him feel successful and seen. He now had a relationship with his space that supported him. Three months later, I received a call from Henry. His work life had opened up, and his job situation had substantially changed.
Clutter blindness can show up as a small mess, like a nightstand piled high with a variety of items contributing to disturbed sleep. It can also show up in entire rooms, making it difficult to function in your own residence. Once clutter builds up, it can feel overwhelming and affect your state of well-being. It can also block the flow of many other areas of your life.
A different client, whom I’ll call Cindy, had lost her mother with whom she was very close. After her mother died, Cindy brought an enormous number of her mother’s possessions into her home, surrounding herself with more inherited items than her own belongings. At first, Cindy found it a comfort, but the profusion of objects soon started to overwhelm her space and how she was living. When Cindy realized these items were blocking her from her natural grieving process, she began to let go, start to heal and reclaim her space back.
You may be noticing some clutter blindness in your own life. It takes awareness before you can choose to make a change. The first step is to clarify what your motivation is to clutter-clear. By using techniques like starting with something easy, a small area you can successfully complete, you can begin to reclaim your space and restore order to your surroundings. Start with a kitchen cabinet, or if that feels overwhelming, just clear one shelf. Go through one item at a time and decide whether to keep it or not. You’re on your way!
Marilyn Mars is a clutter-clearing expert and educator, whose passion is discovering the underlying reasons why we hold on to things that no longer serve us in our current lives, Marilyn has worked one-on-one with clients around the country for 15 years and teaches virtual classes year-round. A native of Long Island, N.Y, she took a road trip to Santa Fe in 2001, fell in love with the mountains and decided to stay. She and her husband Guillermo are dedicated hikers.
Ah yes...house blindness, as we call it, has spurred on a number of declutters over the years. You speak the truth.