Reflections on Thanksgiving

Yesterday, I enjoyed a lovely family gathering.  I hope you were able to spend your day with loved ones.

Before dinner, one of the kids went around and asked each person to list a few things they are grateful for and put the slips of paper in a basket.  After dinner, we each pulled a slip from the basket and read the list aloud.  We had fun guessing who had written which list and smiling over the suggestions – frequently nodding as someone listed something you too felt grateful for.

I’m sure you are thinking “what does this have to do with organizing?”   Well, many of my clients have filled their homes with excess purchases and very few of the lists included anything the person owned.  They all included universal values like “Friends, Family, Health and Interesting Work”   No one said “the shoes I scored at Marshalls” or “the jacket I found at Costco”.  Admittedly, the 7-year-old included “crayons” but she also declared herself thankful for “the Earth and Nature” which many of us wished we’d included too.

So I guess my reflection is that I’m so lucky to do this work.  Organizing frees my clients so they can truly enjoy the important things in life.  It is an honor and a privilege to work in clients’ homes helping them remove road blocks.  Seeing a client find the time and energy to pursue new goals once we’ve removed the clutter is so rewarding.

Now I”ve written this, I’m going to follow REI’s call to action and HEAD OUTSIDE

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