The Uncluttered Life® and Our Organizing Philosophy

We’d like to tell you a little bit about The Uncluttered Life® and our decluttering and organizing philosophy, so that when you read through our blogs and explore our website, you understand our point of view. Not all professional decluttering and organizing companies have the same philosophy or purpose. We would like to share ours: we passionately believe in living an uncluttered life. Uncluttered does not mean minimalistic. It means uncluttered. There is a difference. It means surrounding yourself with the things you love, so that your internal and external environments reflect one another. It means living an authentic life.

To us, decluttering doesn’t feel like a job -

we’re passionate about it. It feels like our life’s purpose. When you’re passionate about something, you enjoy what you’re doing. You’re in “the zone.” We look at decluttering and organizing as a puzzle that just needs to be figured out. It brings us great joy to work as professional organizers in the DFW Metro area to help you feel less overwhelmed by clutter. When you’re less overwhelmed by clutter, you feel more in control of your life and less stressed. Less overwhelmed.

Long before Marie Kondo was a household name, we were obsessed with organization.

We weren’t obsessed with the containers and the folding, the baskets, and the see-through shelf organizers. We were obsessed with the way we felt when things were in order. And that’s the way we want you to feel: in control and in charge of your life. Being organized reduces waste, saves you time and money, and keeps stress at bay. Organization keeps things from getting lost, like your car keys, right before walking out your front door when you’re late to a meeting. The system is easy. That is, if you implement a system that works. Enter Marie Kondo and the KonMari Method®.

Marie Kondo really brought decluttering to the mainstream with her Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo, as well as her books The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Spark Joy, and Joy At Work. Suddenly, many were asking themselves what sparks joy and “kind of sort of” getting the idea. Others, however, were clueless about the concept and how “spark joy” was supposed to make them feel. Having worked and studied with Marie Kondo and being one of Marie Kondo’s Certified Master Consultants in the DFW Metroplex, we believe the question is less about what “sparks joy” and more about what makes you feel like your authentic self.

Your authentic self comes through when you declutter your belongings.

This is a key concept in the KonMari Method®. Many of us hold on to images and concepts of ourselves that no longer apply. We also hold on to clutter that reinforces that image. Holding on to things that no longer serve us keep us “stuck” in certain emotional and physical places and patterns. And it’s tough to get out of some of these patterns without letting go of material objects.

An example of this is one of our client’s needs to keep her son’s bedroom intact, even though he had gone to college, graduated, moved to another state to start a life of his own, and gotten married. She felt sad when he left fifteen years earlier, and holding onto his things helped her feel close to him. She missed him and her close-knit family. Keeping his bedroom furniture tethered her to the belief that maybe, someday, he would come home again to stay.

Of course, logically, that’s not what she wanted for him. But taking part in the decluttering process brought up old feelings that made her uncomfortable about confronting reality - life had changed. The same is true of other clients who have lost a spouse and are downsizing, and unable to donate their loved-one’s clothing or possessions during the move. It hurts to confront loss - holding onto things keeps loved-ones and feelings alive.

That is where we would like to start this blog. We want to help you understand why decluttering and organizing are so important to move you from “stuck” and overwhelmed to feeling lighter and unburdened. Decluttering makes you feel free, yet it takes a lot of physical and emotional work to get there. It involves a lot of emotional processing.

Applying our philosophy of decluttering creates space to help you grow.

Our philosophy helps you design a life that accurately reflects where you stand today - who you are, what matters to you, and aligns your inner and external selves. Read that again: Where you stand today. Sound good?

The goal of the KonMari Method® is to help you decide what sparks joy for you. In other words, what makes you happy. This method is about knowing what makes you happy (keep it!), and what to get rid of that keeps you “stuck.” It’s less about discarding and donating, and more about keeping only the things you love and surrounding yourself with them. Whatever does not bring you joy, and is unnecessary, is clutter.

Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method® is about creating a life that you love.

We will explore the KonMari Method® in a future blog, but keep in mind that this is Marie Kondo’s basic philosophy. Because we are highly trained and skilled in this method, and represent KonMari at the highest level of expertise, we incorporate Kondo’s philosophy into ours. Our philosophy, however, is slightly different because we incorporate additional perspectives from our twenty-years of tried-and-true experience. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of Marie Kondo’s method has been misinterpreted as minimalism, such as you can’t own any books and only a few pieces of paper; that is inaccurate. The KonMari Method® is about “sparking joy” by knowing what brings you happiness. And, what brings you happiness helps you lead a lighter, more congruent life.

In the long run, decluttering will help you move your energy, feel more connected to yourself, and prioritize what is important to you. Our client who couldn’t get rid of her son’s furniture finally was able to let go after a few sessions with us; she turned her son’s bedroom into an office. From there, she started a business that had been a forever dream. Now, her internal and external environments match. She is no longer overwhelmed by clutter and fighting old feelings of loss. She is living proof that decluttering and organizing not only change the way you live, but they also change your life.