Lianne Raymond has a great post on the dark side of decluttering.

She says:  Now, I have nothing against decluttering in and of itself.  I just think when anything becomes unquestioned, it’s time to start asking questions. When I started questioning, I noticed something – The Religion of Decluttering is the kissing cousin of The Religion of Thinness. (emphasis mine).

Bravo Lianne (and thanks to Danielle LaPorte who turned me on to this post: We can use austerity to punish ourselves, and frugality to keep abundance at bay).

I’ve been thinking about this lately – how when something like “decluttering” comes along – everyone jumps on the bandwagon and pretty soon you are feeling guilty about hanging on to those ceramic pitchers that were your Mom’s that you’ve had in a box for 2 years because you don’t have a place to put them out right now. (or maybe that’s just me – except, well, read Lianne about her Mom’s shoes).  Even if it clutters up a box or a shelf or your dresser top, there is nothing wrong with keeping something which brings you good memories and comfort.  Think twice before it gets tossed or given away.

Do you know the line between interesting new thought and craze? Question:  is everyone now blogging, talking, doing [whatever]?  You probably have a craze. Another question:   did you run that new thought through your own intuitive knowing before you set off into action?

Here’s a Secret:  it’s one more way to hook you into believing that your own needs aren’t okay, so you must need someone to help you find the okayness that you seem to have overlooked.  Seth Godin names it the merchandising of dissatisfaction.

Wanting something other than what you have is moving from lack.  You lack whatever it is that you think you need (be it the latest consumer item or a totally uncluttered living space).  Marney Makridakis suggests instead that you move toward what you love.  If you move from love you are always moving from abundance.  Love creates more love.  Abundance.

If you want to be uncluttered and you are living in clutter, before getting the trash barrel make sure you understand why.  You acquired for a reason.  If you are unconscious of that reason, then, as Lianne notes,  unclutter will just be the opposite side of the same coin.  It’s the same thing as yo-yo dieting.

Lianne say it well:  My invitation to you if you want lasting change is to let go of the declutter mindset – a variation on the diet mindset. Both are just hollow pursuits of something we think will make us happy. Both ask us to embrace a masculine paradigm based in external control.  Move to a place of letting go consciously.  Be aware of the shadow side.  Take the time to reflect and do it from a place of loving creation, not fear. Letting go is part of the conscious creation of the life you want, not a scramble for salvation or perfection.  My experience is that when you are living from the place of loving, conscious creation you will naturally and effortlessly begin to let go of that which is no longer serving you – it will be a process, not a project.  And you will discover what is worth keeping and what is worth adding to your life in the first place.

Wylde Women’s Wisdom

Overkill through excesses, or excessive behaviors, is acted out by women who are famished for a life that has meaning and makes sense for them.  When a woman has gone without her cycles or creative needs for long periods of time, she begins a rampage of – you name it –  alcohol, drugs, anger, spirituality, oppression of others, promiscuity, pregnancy, study, creation, control, education, orderliness, body fitness, junk food, to name a few areas of common excess.  When women do this, they are compensating for the loss of regular cycles of self-expression, soul-expression, soul satiation.  Clarissa Pinkola-Estes [emphasis mine]