Closet Clutter

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has bassed away; see everything has become new!
2 Corinthians 5:17

The other night I happened upon a new television show with Peter Walsh called "Enough Already." Walsh is a personal organizer, and his show helps families whose lives have been overtaken by clutter. The family on the episode I saw couldn't even walk through, much less sit, in the family room. Every surface was stuffed with books, clothes, old newspapers, and heaven knows what else. Walsh explained that there are two types of clutter that cause such chaos in a home, emotional clutter and future clutter. Emotional clutter is created when we cannot give up something because it holds a special memory from our past. Future clutter is created because we are worried that we might need an item in the future so we cannot let it go. It doesn't matter if we haven't worn that dress in five years and it doesn't fit, it might fit next year. The problem is that when we hold onto emotional and future clutter, we cannot enjoy what we have today. Our lives become full of the wrong things.

It occurred to me as I watched the show that our lives are often robbed by clutter. In addition to material things that stack up in our homes, we have mental clutter that often needs to be thrown out so that we can live well today. While our memories are precious and life-giving, they can also be debilitating if we don't make room for new life experiences. Think of the high school football star or cheerleader who never moves past the glory days of their youth to embrace the joys of adulthood. Some of us have future emotional clutter because we are so worried about not having something we need in days ahead. We worry that we will not have enough money, enough time or enough wisdom and courage to face future challenges. Mental clutter does exactly what material clutter does. It robs us of today's joy. It keeps us from fully celebrating what we do have.

I was so inspired after watching the show that I decided to clean out my bedroom closet. While the most areas of our home are quite livable, my closet is not. It was past time to make a trip to the Goodwill. So with Peter Walsh's words leading the way, I braved the mess of my closet and ruthlessly discarded any item of clothing that I do not love or have not worn in a year. Just two hours later, I emerged from that closet with two huge garbage bags practically exploding with shoes, purses and clothes. It was liberating and exhilarating. When it was all said and done, I stood in the closet and smiled. I also had to wonder why I had not done it sooner. I told myself for months (ok years) that I was too busy. But then it really didn't take all that long. Initially the task was daunting, but piece by piece it grew more manageable.

Perhaps this is how we can rid our heads of mental clutter. When an old unpleasant memory pops up or a longing for a past that can never return to, we can put the thoughts in their proper place or throw it out. When fear of the future paralyzes us and keeps us from pursuing a dream, we can toss that fear into the garbage of unwanted thoughts. Piece by piece, little by little, as we clear the mental clutter out of today, we gain a clearer vision of life's true joy.

True, I made tremendous progress on my closet in a very short period of time, but now I have to maintain it. Clutter accumulates quickly if you don't stay on top of it. So it is with our emotions. If we don't sort through our fear and resentment as it pops up, our hearts turn into a jumbled mess. Prayer, meditation, and wise counsel help discard emotional garbage.

At the end of my cleaning frenzy, there were just two dresses, both of them black, I just could not discard. One I wore on my honeymoon and the other I wore to my mother's funeral two weeks before our wedding. I tried to put them in the garbage bag. Clearly they are prime examples of emotional clutter. Still, I could not let them go. For those two dresses represented one of the happiest and one of the saddest moments of my life. Moments that happened to come in rapid succession of each other. Perhaps in 20 years when I am 70 and the dresses have been in my closet 40 years, I will be ready, but I am not yet. Sometimes we have to give ourselves time to let go clutter. Progress not perfection, so the saying goes.

May God inspire us to discard the trash that robs us of divine joy and peace today. Let us toss out the garbage and bring in Christ's peace so that we can celebrate life.