This Month's Blog has been written by Diana Sandford​

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De-cluttering as a New Year’s resolution? 

At least once a month I think about de-cluttering. In lockdown I started decluttering my family home in Bearsted. With two attic spaces, a cellar and a big garage, there was an overwhelming amount of ‘stuff’. It was a revelation. Here are some of the things I found:

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• Several boxes of mysterious adapters and cables that fitted no known phones or computers.

• Lots of empty boxes. Why did I store empty boxes for years?

• Several bags filled with other plastic bags. (still got them!)

• A huge pile of books that I may never read.

• A handful of coins from several countries, some of which I have never visited.

• A drawer full of old glasses and cases – what was I planning to do with them?
   

In the garage I found numerous half-burned candles, several tins of paint, each with enough paint to cover a postage stamp and a good number of plastic plant pots of various sizes – why did I keep them? (most travelled happily to Coolings for recycling!)

As for the wardrobes: I’ll spare you the boring details!
And in the kitchen – why keep an inherited old tea set which was my Grandma’s (rose bud). I’ve never used it but think one day I might.   Reader, I managed to declutter enough to sell my house and downsize – what else was there to do in lockdown?

 
Clutter seems to be a disease of our time and culture. It seems that clutter expands to fill the space available. Although it’s tempting to speculate about why we all accumulate so much, the issue with clutter is how we deal with it. Successful de-cluttering is hard; we really need to have the right attitude and recognise that clutter is a real problem.

The word ‘clutter’ is apparently related to ‘clot’. And as clots block up arteries and impede blood flow with disastrous results, so clutter does the same to our lives. Think about how it leads to wasted time, for example. Consider a no-doubt all-too-familiar scenario: you are working on a project and you realise that you need item A (a document, tool or kitchen utensil), but because there is so much clutter you have to search for it. Now note what invariably happens. In the process of trying to find A, you successively uncover items B, C and D, each of which is far more interesting and each of which engages your attention. The result is that when you finally do discover item A, you have either run out of time to use it or you cannot remember what you wanted it for in the first place.

So we should de-clutter. However, the practicalities of dealing with clutter are far from easy. We have to engage in a process of filtering. So I end up asking about everything: should I give it away, keep it, give it to a charity shop or simply bin it? If you are like me, your clutter is probably virtually worthless in financial terms, but you do need to remember that money is not the only measure of worth. The past has value, and memories of events – and particularly of individuals – should matter to us. It is worth remembering how, in the Old Testament, Samuel put up a large memorial stone and named it 'Ebenezer' (which means “the stone of help”), he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”’ (1 Samuel 7:12, NLT). There are some things you may wish to keep as ‘Ebenezers’ – treasured reminders of friends or family; mementos of happy times.

Yet although we may save some precious reminders, the reality is that much must be disposed of, so how do we decide what must go? As I go through old files, photos and books I find myself repeatedly thinking of words such as ‘essential’ and ‘priority’. Anyone who has ever tried de-cluttering a study or garage will be aware of the danger that, after a few hours’ labour, you will actually manage to justify keeping almost everything. We need to ask some very hard questions. Do I need this? Am I ever going to need it? Does it bring me joy?

One reason I think many people today find it hard to deal with clutter is they prefer to think that they will be here for ever. They imagine that sooner or later they really are going to read those unread books; do that unopened jigsaw or experiment with those recipes. I am helped by knowing that the Christian life is like a journey. As I look at all I have before me, I ask myself a simple question: ‘Is it needed on the voyage?’ If you are looking forward to the next world, there’s a lot to be said for travelling light through this one.