Macon Magazine

72 l MACON MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 Getting more organized is such a popular New Year's resolution that the National Association of Professional Organizers has designated January as "GO or Get Organized" month. But as a professional organizer for more than 17 years, I see what a daunting task it is for people to actually "get organized." A personal story illustrates the mindset I recommend adopting. When I was in my 20s I backpacked through Europe. In six weeks a friend and I toured 16 cities in eight countries. I stuffed all my favorite clothes and accessories, including luxuries like an army-grade blow- up mattress, into my oversized backpack. Whatever didn't fit I crammed into a huge American Tourister suitcase with wheels. I had read I could store it in train station lockers in the cities we planned on visiting. Upon our arrival in Paris, we discovered all the lockers were sealed and unusable due to bomb threats. Our lives became an obstacle course as we navigated the new language, currency and culture all while clinging to this suitcase full of our prized stuff. Our next destination was dictated by our need for a storage locker. We were advised Amsterdam had lockers where we could store the suitcase. e cabby who took us back to the station charged us extra for using the car trunk for the suitcase. e American Tourister became an entity and force bigger than the two of us. It had needs, and they began to overshadow ours. We found that the storage lockers in Amsterdam let you feed enough money for only 24 hours of storage time, not indefinitely as we had hoped. Over the course of the next few days, we rushed back to the locker to buy more time until I began to wonder if I really needed this stuff. I thought these things defined me. But now I wanted to be free to enjoy my trip. I began to wonder how much I was willing to sacrifice in my present travels to hang on to my past. One late night as I struggled to pull the wheeled suitcase across a cobbled stone plaza, I almost ran into an art installation. It was a three-dimensional suitcase made of red clay bricks. It looked heavy. It looked like a burden someone had abandoned before continuing on their journey. At that moment, I willed my suitcase to spontaneously combust. We returned to the train station the next day and placed the American Tourister in its final locker. We used enough coins to guarantee it would open in less than 30 minutes. When the allotted storage time expired, our locker buzzed announcing "free stuff," and it popped open. Several people were at the ready. We watched as a vagrant and a young college student pulled the Tourister out, spilling its contents onto the cold, hard floor. Shrieks of joy rang out as the homeless man fondled the mattress, and the young girl held my once favorite clothes up to her body with a smile across her face. Something that caused us so much grief was the source of incredible happiness for these people. ere was nothing more freeing for me than realizing I had put the past behind me. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. Set a timer for 10 minutes and use that limited amount of time to make decisions regarding your stuff. Do not overwhelm yourself. Start with a drawer, not an entire desk. Start with a portion of your clothes rack. Don't pull all your clothes out of the closet. You might find when the timer goes off, you don't want to stop. Organizing is its own reward. Be patient. You will have set backs. It is a mindful, daily choice that you make in favor of having a more rewarding life now and in the future. If you need help, enlist a friend or professional organizer to keep you on track. Soon it will become a habit and a new way of thinking. Soon, you will be living the life you want. M by katherine denton e Right Stuff Getting organized for the New Year Is your stuff keeping you from having the life you want? When your mindset changes from hanging on to the past to living in the present, your behavior will follow. At every turn, ask yourself, does this serve me now? Do I love it? Do I really need it? Would someone else appreciate this more than I do?

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