DECLUTTERING – A JOURNEY

By : Anum Jamal

Anum is a visual artist and a researcher, apart from working as an Assistant Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVSAA), in Karachi. She has done her MA in Contemporary Arts from Coventry University, UK and her Bachelors in Fine Art from IVSAA, Karachi. Apart from making artworks, she loves to travel and pen down her experiences with the newly visited cities and its people.

“Clear your stuff. Clear your mind” – Eric M. Riddle.
This year, as opposed to previous years, I decided to make New Year goals which were attainable and would not only benefit me, but my surroundings as well. Self-wellness became the nucleus of my aims, be it physical or even emotional. One of the ways I began with this was by ‘decluttering’.
It seemed perfect to start my piece with Eric M. Riddle’s quote, who is a self-declared ‘STUFFologist’. In his Goodreads profile, Riddle mentions STUFFology as “the art or practice of getting rid of stuff we define as clutter”, with categories being physical, mental and digital, among others. He also remarks that clutter is a reflection of one’s life and clearing it will eventually clear oneself, physically and/or otherwise. This particular aspect made me stop in my tracks and coaxed me to look around: what do my items in my surrounding reflect about me? What does their nature or even quantity suggest?
This led to a day-long internet rollercoaster ride research on organisation, its philosophy and methodology, eventually stopping by Huffington Post’s website for sure sound advice, and I wasn’t disappointed. In an article titled ‘The Best Decluttering Advice We’ve Heard’ (which they had reposted from Own.com) experts were contacted to give wholesome and attainable advice about organisation. One of them seemed exciting to try, which was given by a renowned organizer Peter Walsh, called the F.A.S.T. method, which is as follows:
F: Fix a time.
A: Anything not used in 12 months.
S: Someone else’s stuff.
T: Trash.

I began with assorting large plastic bags under second and fourth title. Within the first hour, my ‘Anything not used in 12 months’ bag had multiplied to three bags, be it stationery, accessories, books and even wardrobe! That opened an internal debate about accumulation and how much of it was actually ‘needed’ and not ‘wanted’. Does the item’s sentimental value or attached memories enough for me to hold on to it? Can one hold on to EVERY SINGLE ITEM just for that reason? And so began the journey of prioritising those memories as well.
Over the next two weeks, another glaring issue that became visible, was boxes of stuff that used to be in one room, but is now in another room or … (cue Beethoven’s 5th symphony) the storeroom. This true epitome of Pandora’s Box exists in most households, even in the shape of even basements, attics or garage spaces. This made me drop everything and restart from the storeroom, because if that is sorted, then eventually the rest of the house will definitely follow suit. My mother and I started sorting the stuff out as before, but with the addition of a bag for items which can be donated. Numerous things from bags which had items that weren’t used for a long time, got transferred to the donations bag, be it clothes, shoes and even books.
It was daunting to witness how much a person can accumulate over the months and years if not keeping a check and balance. After two weeks’ worth of cleaning up and organisation, I made sure that those bags were moved out of the house the next day, since leaving them in the storeroom would restart the cycle of accumulation. True, throwing items away did start debates at home, since at that point every object looks valuable, but the satisfaction post clean-up is tough to explain in words.
This process also shed light on consumerism on a larger scale. Whenever one goes to a store, mall or a boutique, stop and ask ‘Do I REALLY need this thing?’ Why buy another bag of detergent powder when you already have one at home? Is that decoration item absolutely necessary for your lounge, or is it just a beautiful piece? Must you buy this dress from the store, just because it is on sale? Is it compulsory to buy an economy size packet of product, when maybe two small packets will do? Of course, the needs of every individual and family differ, but the above questions are still potent to us as a society. And simple steps to curb purchases and accumulation will not only aid one to organise their homes more easily, it will also give you inner balance.