By: Janet L. Hall and Judith McClure
Things are a buzz here at Judith’s B&B, where I’ve been staying the last six weeks. Handyman Tim is installing a bathroom in the Magnolia room and electricians are evaluating and installing electric there as well as other places in the old Victorian house. Yes things are a buzz here and change is happening every day, especially for Judith.
For the last six weeks Judith has been embarking on taking back her power and reclaiming her space from her clutter and her brothers over abundance of stuff!
You see Judith’s brother is a flea market/thrift store junkie and yes, some of this started rubbing off on Judith… Read what Judith has to say:
“The shift came for me when I saw my living room decluttered and rearranged. I could actually feel the energy. Everything seemed to flow. It wasn’t until most of my brother’s “useless to me” things were removed from behind the sofa, in corners and under things that I realized how much of his energy had taken over what was mine–my beautiful home and Bed N’ Breakfast.
I loved going to thrift stores and flea markets three or four times a week with my brother. We made a day of it, stopping at a lakeside park and picnicking or exploring new towns. I always found a little something that would look good in one of my guest’s bedrooms. Unfortunately, so did my brother! He has three karaoke machines. Of course no one sings! No one uses the three weed eaters in the garage either! Three seems to be the magic number for my brother.
In the six weeks Janet has been visiting me, I have lost nearly all the desire to go “thrifting”. We filled our days with creativity, doing inspirational walkabouts and photographing nature. We’ve painted fireflies on rocks, tie-dyed shirts and canoed the Suwannee River. (The deserted HAUNTED HOUSE she made me go in was not fun!).
I will miss Janet. Today she leaves for a week long enchanted walkabout with John Springer and then flies home. As for me, I still have the garage left. Janet offered to do it while she was here but I think there needs to be BALANCE! We had a lot of FUN!
Would you like Janet to come help you?
Call her at 410-586-9440 or email her at jhall@overhall.com to discuss your situation and when you’d like to get started.
By: Janet L. Hall and Judith McClure
Have you ever heard the saying that nature abhors a vacuum? Meaning when you let go of, declutter, or release your stuff that you no longer use, need, want or is worthless to you, something will always come into your life to (get sucked into) replace what you have finally released to the Universe. And not necessarily more stuff.
In philosophy the horror vacui stands for a theory initially proposed by Aristotle stating that nature abhors a vacuum, and therefore empty space would always be trying to suck in gas or liquids to avoid being empty. The theory was for a long time widely accepted and still supported by Galileo Galilei.
In visual art, horror vacui (literally: fear of empty spaces, also known as cenophobia) is the filling of the entire surface of an artwork with detail.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_abhors_a_vacuum ]
In a professional organizers world we generally refer to horror vacui or cenophobia (fear of empty rooms) as OCD (Oppression Compulsive Disorder) with hoarding and pack ratting attached.
In energy work (that’s what your stuff and you are made of: energy) many believe that clearing out your clutter and creating an environment for your lifestyle can open up new doors and life possibilities for you.
Now Inn Keeper Judith McClure of the White Springs B&B (I’ve been writing about her the last couple issues with her permission) is none of the above. Judith just needed help making decisions on what to keep, where to keep it and how to sort through it all.
Here is some of Judith’s story, in her own words:
“What brings you to White Springs?” I asked the lovely French couple requesting a room for the night on a week day. Nearly all my guests coming to my hundred and five year old Bed N’ Breakfast near the historic Suwannee River have reservations well in advance and usually only on weekends.
“I’m very good at reading maps,” the woman replied in a delightful French accent, “but not very good with my lefts and my rights!” It seems the couple took a wrong turn off the freeway and found my B&B!
Was it an accident that brought them unexpectedly to my B&B, or was it that “mysterious energy” Janet told me would happen when we started to declutter and rearrange the furniture for a better flow of energy?
Just as I was contemplating this, the phone rang. They were requesting reservations for tonight. Imagine a Wednesday reservation–almost unheard of! The energy has really started to shift here in my B&B and in my bank account. I believe! I believe!
I’m in NC working with a grandmother that recently had her grandchildren move in. She is taking care of them alone, a life changing experience you can be sure of. Two boys, ages 5 and 7 and one with ADHD and I suspect ODD. Her husband is in the Army and stationed overseas. Pray for them please!
Anyway the TOYS! Out of control and TOO many! I think grandma could open a corner toy store
I’m unsure if all these toys came with the children or if the toys have been purchased since they arrived or both. At this point that doesn’t matter. What matters most is keeping sanity and stopping chaos and creating uncluttered, calm and fun places for the children to play, learn and interact.
You can be sure we have put most of the toys in bins (19: 35 gallon bins) to be sorted later when more time (and sanity) exist for her. At least for now you can walk (sometimes) on the floor without stepping on something. The children don’t seem to mind that a lot of their toys have been packed up for now as we left out their favorites and they still have an abundance to play with in my opinion. (We haven’t even gotten to the outdoor toys!) I’ll post pictures when I get back to my office.
We are in the process of setting up a play/toy room (upstairs across from their bedroom) for them and have already set up an arts and crafts room for them that is working very well. Grandma has implemented two decorative chest’s in the living room that have toys stored there for times they can’t be upstairs in their playroom.
I believe the children also realize they have too many toys and have expressed their excitement and have voiced which toys that they will be giving some away to those children in need.
Grandmother will be sorting through a bin every day or so until all are gone through after I leave.
Readers – let me know what you think: How much is too much?
Tomorrow – Clothes!
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