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Does an Obsession with Tidiness Make a Clutterer Happier?

June 4, 2019 By Richard Farrell

Marie Kondo, born 1984 in Tokyo Japan may have been a bit of a pain when she was growing up. Her Wikipedia page reveals she used to arrive early at school to tidy up the bookshelves in the classroom while her classmates were playing outside.

“I was obsessed with what I could throw away,” she said later. After she experienced a nervous breakdown she realized she should rather look for things she wanted to keep. “Identifying the things that make you happy: that is the work of tidying,” she decided.

The fact she spent the next five years as an attendant handmaiden at a Shinto shrine is neither here nor there. Marie Kondo has sold millions of copies of the four books she wrote, and appeared on Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2015.

We were intrigued when Sarah Griffiths investigated the relevance of the Marie Kondo lifestyle solution, and decided it deserved a post.

Is Tidying Our Homes Really a Positive Life Changing Step?

Marie Kondo’s method involves gathering all one’s personal possessions together, on the basis of one category at a time. We might decide to start with shoes or empty boxes for example. We only keep those that “flutter, throb, palpitate” within us. The rest go out with the garbage.

“Treasuring what you have; treating the objects you own as not disposable, but valuable, no matter their actual monetary worth; and creating displays so you can value each individual object are all essentially Shinto ways of living,” the Wikipedia explains.

We were fast becoming confused. What if everything “fluttered, throbbed, palpitated” in the heart of a hoarder? For a moment it seemed Sarah Griffiths agreed.

Piles of Stuff Van Also Give Us a Rush of Satisfaction

Sarah Griffiths opens by conceding piles of clutter don’t sound like a big deal to most of us. It might mean we struggle to find a clear surface to put a glass down on occasionally, or we end up stubbing a toe on a carelessly misplaced pile of sports equipment,” she admits.

But it doesn’t make our life any worse, she continues. In fact, most of us quite like our stuff. It helps to turn the buildings we live in into homes and can give us a rush of satisfaction. So what’s the problem with hoarding then?

Objects Can Even Represent Comfort and Security for Hoarders

So says James Gregory, clinical psychologist and expert on hoarding at the University of Bath. In the most extreme cases though, hoarding is recognised as a medical disorder that can rob people of their quality of life. At this extreme point throwing things away can trigger the part of our brain that also processes pain.

We can compare this situation to the sports togs we wore while we were at school. These are far more than mere objects. They are receptacles for some of our most precious memories and that’s why we can’t throw them away.

“One of the obvious advantages to a tidy house is that being able to easily locate things will cause you less stress,” says Chris Stiff, a lecturer in psychology at Keele University.

However, “It could go either way,” says Stiff. “It could be a very negative experience if you throw away irreplaceable sentimental objects but it’s possible you could feel cleansed – you might feel free of your past.”

This brings us back to possessions that “flutter, throb, palpitate” within us. Albert Einstein’s desk anecdotally looked like a dog’s breakfast after the dog slept in it. “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind,” he asked “of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Related

Filed Under: Compulsive Hoarding Tagged With: cant throw it away, hoarder house clearance, Marie Kondo lifestyle solution, tidiness obsession, Time Magazine’s "100 Most Influential People" 2015.

Our House Clearance Services

We provide a full house clearance and property management solution:

  • We clear hoarded houses, regardless how big or how cluttered
  • We clear all types and sizes of property, irrespective of location, or access is restricted or where parking is difficult or not available.
  • We can help avoid water damage by draining the central heating system.
  • We can secure the property and change the locks.
  • We can reinstate the gardens and maintain them whilst the property is empty.
  • We can provide 24 hour security to eliminate the risk of squatting or unlawful occupation.

As well normal house clearances we specialise in clutter clearance and we can clear a hoarded house which may contain years of accumulated possessions, or which have abnormal amounts of general household items, sometimes as a result of compulsive hoarding syndrome.

Equally we can help to clear a property where the occupants were previously unwell and unable to care for themselves or their property which sometimes results in insanitary, dangerous or just plain unpleasant conditions.

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Client Reviews

Jenny Schon
Dec 3, 2021
 by Jenny Schon on Avery Associates
Well done

This truly is a 'one stop shop' for all things relating to Probate valuations and clearance. Jeffrey is a 'facilitator' and full marks to him for finding... Read More

Kevin Anderson
Oct 26, 2021
 by Kevin Anderson on Avery Associates
Fantastic and Reliable

Our aunt was a recluse and hoarder. She died leaving two properties in London that were dilapidated and completely hoarded. Unfortunately, because everything... Read More

It was a pleasure to assist Kevin

T. Hackett
Aug 26, 2021
 by T. Hackett on Avery Associates
1st Class Service

Avery Associates Appraisal I have just moved house after almost 30 years of occupation. My initial choice of movers, Pickfords, decided at the last... Read More

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