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Blog: The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
 What you DON'T see
I volunteer heavily at my kids' school in a variety of areas. The school has two fundraisers every year, one a Spring Gala/Auction (on which I work countless hours) and the other, a fall Golf and Tennis Tournament. One of the things I volunteered to do this year was to act as a storage unit to house in my work office the six GIANT boxes of giveaways for the Golf/Tennis Tourny. This didn't seem like a big job or sacrifice at the time, because the boxes arrived late August and the event was supposed to take place the first weekend in October (just a few weeks of inconvenience).
Well the event was cancelled in October due to poor participation (blame the economy) and rescheduled for January. Then it was cancelled again in January due to a ridiculously cold and rainy day in Florida (drizzling and 32 degrees with a wind chill in the teens—not ideal for an outdoor event). The event has since been rescheduled for the end of May.
Why am I writing about this? Because my simple volunteer effort has turned into an eye-opener for me. I now know why my clients sometimes live with their clutter for so long: they don't see it anymore.
When those six giant boxes entered my office in August, they were an instant eye sore. I had to step around them every morning and I resented them, the space they took up, and the way they ugly-fied my office. I cringed at the sight of them and couldn't wait until they were gone. Now nearing the end of January, five months later, I don't even see them anymore. They haven't moved an inch. I still have to step around them. But somehow, they don't bother me. They have become invisible. And that is scary.
To me this is the perfect illustration of why it's important to have fresh eyes take a look at your space, whether it's a friend, neighbor or professional organizer. When you live with clutter for so long, you stop seeing it and that means you don't do anything to remedy it.
At last year's NAPO convention I attended a session by master organizer Sandra Felton. She mentioned the toilet paper roll method of organizing. Simply put, you take an empty paper towel or toilet paper roll and use it like a periscope to look around your house. Somehow, seeing things individually, without seeing the whole picture, allows you to "see" in a new light. So take a cardboard roll and look across your kitchen counters. Look around your playroom or across your bedroom dresser. You may be inspired to purge or reorganize that pile of crap on your dresser that you've walked past and lived with for the past few months (or longer). I will try this exercise myself this week.
Further still, this experience offered me a secondary lesson about the importance of saying "no" when someone asks you to house something of theirs. Whether it's your sister who doesn't want to get rid of a childhood desk, but doesn't have the space for it so she asks you to hold on to it… or a father who wants you to keep the quilt his mother made because it's a family heirloom (albeit a family heirloom he doesn't value enough to find the space for)… or a friend who passes their don't-want-anymores to you in a seemingly-kind gesture… DON'T TAKE IT, EVEN IF IT WAS FREE. Your space is just as valuable as anyone else's and it is not your responsibility to solve other people's spatial dilemmas.
Next year, I will help the school by donating my time via an organizing certificate instead of my very valuable office space.
posted on: 1/25/2010 10:30:00 AM by Heather Lambie
category: Paper
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The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
by Heather Lambie
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About Heather:
My Husband - "Honey, how thin can you spread yourself before you're no longer there?" Me - "I don't know. But I'm in it to win it, so we may have to find out."
Heather's Website:
www.yourhomeeditor.com
Favorite Websites
- The Sartorialist
This site appeases my hunger for all things New York, reminds me of my time there, and gives me great ideas for unconventional looks.
- Toffee To Go
They are located in Tampa, very near me, but they deliver/ship nationally. They have THE BEST toffee EVER. It's buttery, salty, sweet--all my favorite things in one bite.
- The Container Store
I know this is a no-brainer for an organizer...but this place really turns me on!
- The Poetry Foundation
- Because I Said So (blog)
As a mom myself, this mom of 6 (!!!) has me in stitches.
- Michael Buble
If I wasn't happily married, I might be stalking him. Bar none, the best voice and best sense of humor!
Quotes That Move Me
- General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
"The truth of the matter is, you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."
- Ivern Ball
"Most of us ask for advice when we know the answer but we want a different one."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The secret of education is respecting the pupil."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
- Abigail Van Buren
"The best index to a person's character is how he treats another person who can't do him good, and how he treats people who can't fight back."
- Dorothy Galyean
"Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."
- Aristotle
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Mark Twain
"To be satisfied with what one has; that is wealth. As long as one sorely needs a certain additional amount, that man isn't rich."
- Jackie Kennedy
"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."
Places I'm Dying to Visit
- Hawaii
Any how, any way, any time.
- Los Cabos, Mexico
- China
- Japan
- Alaska (via cruise ship)
- Marbella, Spain
Places I've Already Been
- Australia (Sydney)
- New Zealand
- Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora
- London
- Paris
Spent only one day here (took the Chunnel from London when I was there) but it was one amazing, beautiful day where I walked the flea markets, visited the Louvre, people-watched and used all 6 senses to experience it.
- Trinidad & Tobago
My husband is from here, so we go several times a year to visit family.
- Italy (Milan, Vicenza)
- Jamaica
Things I'd Like To Do Before I Die
- Run a leg with the Olympic torch before the games begin
- See the monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico
- Ride a horse on the beach (in the water)
- See a prize fight (boxing) in Las Vegas
- Run the NYC Marathon
I ran the Disney Marathon in 2000 (pre-kids). Would love to run another post-kids, to prove I can.
- Have washboard abs.
- Eliminate self doubt.
- Own an apartment in Manhattan.
- Watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
- Take an RV trip down the coast of California.
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