Clutter Busting: Letting Go Of What's Holding You Back (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm starting a professional organizing business and read this book for research purposes. "Clutter Busting" takes cleaning to the extreme, in a way I actually think is just as unhealthy as living with massive amounts of clutter. Palmer believes that absolutely everything that isn't useful to you right now should be tossed and that things kept for sentimental value are causing mental and emotional clutter. To an extent, this is true. Absolute focus on items that evoke past feelings is detrimental to living in the present, but I would argue that there is value in saving some items that elicit specific memories when they might otherwise be lost in the recesses of your mind. The trick is in finding proper ways to keep them and not to store relics of pain, but things that bring you happy memories. The author clearly doesn't want to deal with this knotty issue. Still, there are good pieces of information and insight here, even though, like many non-fiction self-help books, the self-aggrandizing anecdotes often strain credibility and my patience. Like many of you, I have so many books on de-cluttering that they are clutter in their own right. This book is different. And it made an impact. (I actually cleaned out one of my closets right away when I finished the book) Brooks Palmer doesn't just take you through the different kinds of clutter and how to clean the area, he takes the reader on a journey to discover the reasons for the stacks and piles. And the reasons ring true! Granted, he tells stories of the pinnacles of extreme collecting/hoarding/clutter-in-general, some of which are a little ober the top. He also suggests tossing things like irreplaceable family photos and other genuinely precious items. But for the most part, there is both wisdom and good ideas in the book.Take from it that which works for you and leave the rest. You will find something useful there.
What do You think about Clutter Busting: Letting Go Of What's Holding You Back (2009)?
a girl can dream...if I stop reading long enough, this book may help :)
—Joey
I *bought* this book...I don't usually do that.
—sohia
