Sandra Felton - Winning the Clutter War

Winning the
Clutter War

Sandra Felton

To my mother, Seco Haley,
whose example kept me striving
for a better way of life
when it was difficult to remember
that another way existed.

When it comes to keeping an orderly house, no one is hopeless not even you! So, go and dig up a pencil (try looking behind the hutch one rolled under there two years ago) and evaluate yourself by identifying your particular strengths and weaknesses. True or false:

I am successful in using coupons.
I still have my high school dance program.
I plan my meals while I shop.
I know how much I have in my checking account.
I keep my bedroom door closed when I have guests.

Theres more! For your score on this probing survey, see chapter 11.

If youre longing to welcome unexpected guests with open arms (instead of hiding behind a stack of newspapers)... if youre tired of fighting an avalanche every time you open a closet or cabinet door... if theres a Cleanie inside of you whos striving to break free, then Winning the Clutter War will provide you with the humorous, helpful guidance and painless, practical tips you need to forever break away from chronic messiness!

Foreword

Long, Long Ago ...

This is my story that began over twenty-five years ago. I feared I was doomed to live and die struggling with clutter in my home and disorder in my life. It is the story of how I changed and later helped many others change with me. The desperate condition of my life before I changed is described in chapter 2, Confessions of a Reformed Messie. My strategy for change is described in chapter 12, The Mt. Vernon Method: How I Took Command so I wont go into the details now.

When I found help for myself and felt the drive to clutter leave my heart and life like a fever breaking, I instinctively wanted to share with others, although I was not sure that there were any others who were drowning in clutter as I was.

So back in 1981 I put a little public service announcement in the Miami Herald Messy house? Frustrated? Come to Messies Anonymous. I gave the location and evening meeting time. Since I was afraid to sit alone in the dark, I asked a friend to wait with me in a back building of our church. I was not sure anybody would show up. I suspected I was the only one in the world who had this problem. Who could know!

Waiting in the Darkness

On that first night my friend and I sat together in that little building in a mango grove with the darkness closing in around us, waiting and wondering. Down the unpaved pathway, lights from approaching cars began to appear, mostly late. Twelve people arrived. We were a brave group but shellshocked from the impact of our problem. I recall one man was about to have his business evicted by the fire marshall. Week after week we hammered out and applied the plans that appear in this book. And slowly we changed, as you will too.

Early on in the process, a reporter for the Miami Herald wrote a story about our group. The article was distributed by a large national news service to many of the major newspapers in the country. Twelve thousand letters poured in pleading for help, often adding Hurry! This book, The Messies Manual, was written to answer their cry.

At first I printed copies of the book myself to sell to those who asked for help. Two years later Revell began publishing and distributing The Messies Manual in a way I couldnt. Since then they have published many of my other books. These books were written to flesh out the program and answer other questions about how to change.

The Message Spreads

In the twenty-plus years since that little group met, the program hammered out there has spread all over the world to English-speaking countries such as Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and England. Books in German have become bestsellers, and many German groups have been formed. The word messie has entered the German word pool. Books have been translated into Spanish and Dutch, and the Chinese have bought rights to translate and publish. Through newspapers, magazines, radio programs, television, and book distribution, the message of hope has spread to women and men around the world. The program has jumped cultural lines. Cluttering is an equal-opportunity problem and no respecter of social position, intelligence, or any other characteristic.

Local Messies Anonymous groups have formed, and there are many successful and active online support groups. Other help is available through the website www.messies.com for English speakers. There are also websites that serve German and Spanish speakers.

There are no leaders in the group. There are no dues. There are no professionals who benefit from the organization directly. Our members are mostly women, though men are surely welcome. Anyone who suffers from chronic disorganization is welcome. We call that person by the gentle name of Messie, and it is Anonymous because we dont necessarily want outsiders to know our problem.

Since the beginning of Messies Anonymous, much has been done to help individuals overcome disorganization. The National Association of Professional Organizers and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization have been formed in America. Other professional organizer groups have begun abroad. These offer referrals around the country. Psychologists have turned their attention to the problem, usually focusing on hoarding as an anxiety disorder. All of these offer insights and help.

A Simple Program

Ten years after its beginning, Alcoholics Anonymous extended their twelve steps and twelve traditions to those who wish to use them. Their late adoption made Messies Anonymous something of a hybrid. Some Messies emphasize the steps and others go about change in a different way. The twelve-step program is explained in the book Hope for the Hopeless Messie.

Just as Bill W.s beliefs and background flavored his interpretation of the twelve steps of AA, my background as a Bible-believing Christian flavors the interpretation of the higher power of the twelve steps as God, who is willing to restore us to sanity and tells us about that process in the Bible. As was true with Bill W.s group, because of the variety of backgrounds of those who come for help, there are a variety of approaches in this area. Controversy over differences occasionally arises. Controversy of any kind only distracts from our focus on solving our problem and seldom is useful to pursue as an issue.

Our program is a simple program but not a simplistic one. Simplistic is naive and inadequate. Simple is enough but no more. Be assured that you can find help for yourself.

The program worked for me. It didnt come easily or quickly. But little by little as I changed, my house changed. In todays world many Messies who are changing slowly but surely say, Baby steps, baby steps. I challenged ideas and feelings that had drawn me into clutter. Today I am one grateful person. I did not want to live my whole life in clutter, and I sure didnt want to die with it around me.

But What about You?

So here you are reading this book about organizing because you are one of the growing crowd of those of us in the modern world who struggle with our affluence. We live in crowded and sometimes cluttered houses. We buy sheds and rent storage units because we are exhausted from caring for too much stuff.

The problems and stresses of individuals living with clutter are increasing as affluence proliferates belongings and busy schedules absorb time to handle them. Those who once lived average organized lives find themselves starting to go under.

Maybe you dont consider yourself a candidate to join a group. You dont want to hire outside help at this time. You may not even be interested or ready to go online for more help and information. You just want to live in harmony with your stuff and to manage your time well.