Pens Who Knew

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Hans Hofmann

Valuable or Not

Have you ever watched PBSs popular show Antiques Roadshow? It is one of my mothers favorite shows to watch every week. It is fascinating to watch people bring in treasured items and family heirlooms in anticipation of their possible worth. For some, their intrinsic value is not measured in dollars and cents, rather it is their emotional value that they hold for that person. These people would not dream of parting with their treasure. Others are interested in their items worth in hopes that they could make a lot of money. A lot have taken great care of the items over the years and truly believe them to be treasures.

Often though, we humans tend to put values into items not worth money at all. A perfect example of this is our client Mary. My partner and I have spent many hours with Mary, making progress in the battle against clutter. One day we were in her office sorting through the items in her desk and we got to a rather large pile of pens. We sat down on the floor and began helping her sort through her pens. Each pen that she picked up made her reminisce about a different memory. For example, I got this pen on my vacation to Malibu, was one such recollection. It seemed like it took a long time to get through each individual pen because of their individual memories. Parting with them was just not an option. Both Lori and I were amazed because to us, they were just writing tools. When we left that day and drove away, I commented to Lori, pens, who knew?

Memories

We all have things that we give value to. Whether rational or not, we are all guilty. For some, books and record albums are items, which tend to hold value for people. We often work with clients who hold onto albums, but dont have a working record player or any way to play the record. Each album holds a specific recollection and they feel that if the album is gone, so is the memory. The same is true for books and many other items. Once we discuss the importance of the actual item, it is amazing how little value it holds for the client. In actuality, its not the physical item that they are clinging to its the memory that the item holds. And, all of these things take up a lot of space in your home.

This also holds true for older clients. My father is a perfect example of someone who gives value to items that others would not. He is 75 years old and grew up during the depression. People were amazingly creative at using and reusing items because of the necessity to do so back then. He is truly a talented individual and can build anything that he puts his mind to. I decided that I would help him organize his garage last spring. Unfortunately, I wanted to weed through his stuff more than he did. We often came across items that I would have immediately have thrown away, and he was able to list many other uses for the item. I was ready for him to make some changes, but he was not. This was also a perfect example of the importance of knowing whether or not people actually want to make a change. My dad was fine with how his organizing system worked and didnt mind searching for items in his garage.

Trash or Treasure

When older adults begin to think about downsizing, they often assume that their various family members will want most of their things. All of the antiques, books, furniture and other items hold a tremendous amount of value to the person downsizing, but not so much for their family members. When that happens, people get overwhelmed because they dont know what to do with their things. Thats when Lori and I often get a call to come help figure out what to do with these unwanted items. There are a number of great resources in St. Louis for donating or reselling a lot of things, including old record albums, computers, and furniture. I recently took a bunch of books from a client to my dad who is a member of a local American Legion. The American Legion ships books to soldiers overseas. We also donate a lot of books to our local library. It is true that one mans trash is another mans treasure.

We recently had a client state that he was amazed at how psychological the organizing process can be. He said, Wow, your business is about 10% physical and 90% mental. Hes right. We all form attachments to things and letting go of the item is harder for some more than others. This particular client is amazingly efficient at looking at his possessions that he has saved, remembering the memory that the item evokes, then getting rid of the item because he knows he has the memory forever. He already knows the value of his memories and realizes that they will be stored in his mind whether he has the physical item or not. When our clients get that realization, Lori and I smile and give each other a high five, because our clients have taken control of their things and have a handle on their clutter. 2005 All Rights Reserved

Claire Keeling and her partner Lori Bickel are the co-owners of Sort It Out, Inc. Sort It Out helps companies become more productive, one employee at a time. For more information contact them at http://www.sortitoutduo.com