Kerri Richardson - From Clutter to Clarity

Having long agreed with the German saying that order is half of life, this brilliantly insightful book will help anyone see that the tigers of clutter are only paper, dispense with the drama, and find true peace in all of its manifestations.

Mike Dooley, New York Times best-selling author of Infinite Possibilities

Get out your highlighter! Kerris book will inspire and motivate you to make gigantic steps forward by addressing your clutter. When you change your clutter, you transform your life. With a depth of wisdom and practical, easy-to-understand tenets, From Clutter to Clarity will take you on a profound journey of inner exploration. Highly recommended!

Denise Linn, best-selling author of Feng Shui for the Soul and Energy Strands

Phenomenal is an understatement! In From Clutter to Clarity, Kerri takes you on a fun and fascinating journey behind the thoughts, things, and people that are cluttering your ability to renew, heal, and create reserves of energy and peace in your life. If youre ready to accelerate opening up untapped potential, buy this smart and no-nonsense book!

Janine Driver, New York Times best-selling author of You Say More Than You Think and CEO of Body Language Institute

What Your Clutter Is Trying to Tell You

All of the above are available at your local bookstore,
or may be ordered by visiting:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Copyright 2020 by Kerri Richardson

Published in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Mary Ann Smith Interior design: Nick C. Welch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-6014-8

E-book ISBN: 978-1-4019-6015-5

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-4019-6064-3

To my Mama, for being a loving and compassionate role model, for cheering me along when the doubts crept in, and for finally admitting that I am, in fact, the best of seven.

When Melissa and I decided to live in a tiny house (yes, like the ones you see on reality television), I never anticipated the challenges that would come with such a significant downsize. I knew wed have some tough decisions to make, but I couldnt have predicted the deep, emotional work that would be involved. However, it was that work that opened up our lives in the best way possible.

At the time of writing this, we have been living in our tiny house for 14 months. Its a comfortable 28 by 8.5 feet, about 240 square feet in total. Its a modern-style home on wheels that has everything we need: a fully functioning kitchen, living room/office, and bedroom loft. Our bathroom has a big, beautiful shower that might just be my favorite part of the whole place. Its small (tiny, if you will), but its home.

Downsizing to this lifestyle was a four-year process. Our first house was 2,000 square feet and came with more rooms and storage space than we ever needed. After selling that, we moved into a 750-square-foot apartment, and then into one that was a mere 500 square feet, before settling into the tiny house. With each round of paring down, the task became more challenging. I found myself facing difficult decisions about what I should or shouldnt keep.

Do I keep my high school yearbook? How many spatulas do I really need? I love this dress that I wore to my nieces wedding, but will I ever wear it again? What about this waffle iron my mother-in-law gave me in honor of the special breakfast we had the morning after my wedding? Despite thinking we had finished simplifying, there were still many possibly superfluous things.

Why were some things so easy to let go of, while others caused me to spiral into speculation, question my character, or doubt my intuition? What was so important about all of this stuff? As I asked myself these questions, I realized that my struggle in deciding had little to do with the items themselves and everything to do with the meaning I had assigned to them.

Of course I should keep my yearbooks! Thats something everyone hangs on to.

Im an adult. Arent I supposed to have at least a few spatulas? Just having one seems desperate and lacking.

I cant fit into that spring dress right now, but it sure is pretty. Remember how much thinner I was then?

My mother-in-law would be disappointed if I got rid of the waffle iron. She was so excited to give it to us. I dont want her to think Im ungrateful.

It sounds silly now, but at the time, this is what was running through my head. I realized just how often our beliefs get in the way of decluttering. So I decided to take a new approach. Any time I wrestled with the decision to keep or donate, I worked on cleaning up my thoughts first. Id reassure my younger self (shes the one who created these beliefs, after all) that nothing catastrophic would happen if I chose to do things my way.

Its okay to get rid of something that other people would keep.

I can thrive in abundance even with just one spatula.

I dont have to fit back into that dress again to be worthy.

My mother-in-laws love for me isnt conditional.

I realized its also okay to keep things others would get rid of. After all, only I get to decide what is clutter to me and what isnt.

I had been convincing myself of those old ideas for years, so I knew it would take time to unlearn them. And, like going through everything I owned, it was a process. It took a lot of work. And then something cool happened.

I realized I wasnt just reframing my perspective about things. I was also learning about myself and how my mindset gets in the way as I pursue my dreams and goals. What a revelation to have while clearing clutter!

It wasnt easy to accept. Growing up, I learned that how you do anything is how you do everything. If Im talking myself into keeping an extra spatula for fear of looking pathetic, then theres a good chance Im doing (or not doing) something else for the same reason.

If Im worried that donating a gift from my mother-in-law will change her opinion of me, I probably consider my other relationships transactional. Thats certainly not ideal, but how can I change it? By using my clutter as a tool for transformation.