The story of the sad little chair... and projects everywhere!
Today I went to my parents house. As some of you know I come from a family that has hoarding tendencies. I’m used to it now, so when I have to precariously balance to not trip on tools and stuff in the conservatory to get the house it barely registers I’m tiptoeing. I’m so used to seeing old oil drums, shopping trolleys, and random bits of metal in the garden that I don’t notice them now. For the past few months however, I have noticed this little tiny child’s rocking chair. Someone in our family passed away and this was part of the stuff that migrated to my parents house. Except it never quite made it into the house. It’s been in the garden rotting. Out in the rain. Having birds poo on it! I see it every time I leave their house and it made me sad every time. When I asked my mum why certain things was still in the garden she explained that my dad had a ‘project’ for everything. An idea. A use be could find. A ‘will do this some day’ with it thought. This is very common! I was very similar. I was a ‘someday I can do something with this’. But I never did. A client I met last week has this issue too. That’s the downside of having a creative personality! She has rooms full of craft stuff. That much stuff she no longer knows what she has. Projects not started that she hopes to get to do some day, but also realised this won’t happen while she lives like this. When you see objects, one offs, that you REALLY can’t let pass you by, you must have them, you have no idea what to do with them, but it’s an opportunity not to be missed! You might never be able to get them again! You bring them home. So the garage becomes full. Things get shoved in the loft. The outhouse becomes full. Then the understairs cupboard. Then a spare room.....And then it overtakes everywhere. And then you’re overwhelmed. You’re surrounded by potential projects. The only problem with this is that it affects you living. It also makes it impossible to do any projects at all. It wears you down. It makes you feel bad as every time you see this stuff you recognise, briefly, that you’ve STILL NOT DONE IT. Sinking feeling. A weight on your shoulders. Overwhelm. SO MUCH STUFF. And you have no idea where to start. But you still get opportunities for bringing new things in. You have so much stuff you can’t make a start on anything, as not only are you overwhelmed, physically you just don’t have space to do it. Plus you can’t find the bits you need, and if you can then getting to them is an expedition. Now I no longer live like this I’m so much more productive. Sometimes I have no projects. Sometimes reading a book is a project. Today I decided to rescue this little chair. This chair is now my project. I have room to work on it, and it’s not overwhelming. I know exactly what I need. I know exactly where to find the things I will use. When you have only one project on the go it’s so much easier. It is fun. You keep motivation. You’re in control. You can see where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. I now can recognise that not every item which could be a project will become one. It’s ok to reject it. There’s millions of fabulous items out there when I’m ready, missing that one isn’t the end of the world... it just means my world isn’t cluttered. If you’re struggling with clutter, give me a call, text or email. I can help you sort through your things and support you to being in a home you love, no longer overwhelmed, and working on projects like my chair. One at a time. Much love, Heather xhas
