Everyone remembers Beethoven for his magnificent compositions, but few people know he was also probably the greatest piano virtuoso of his times. Like Mozart, he was a child prodigy, staging his first public performance in Cologne at the age of eight. Several eminent piano manufacturers gifted grand pianos to him, but as deafness descended, the pianos were moved from house to house and usually remained unopened and uncared for. They became clutter in his life.
A more modern day example of this can be found in many homes. Perhaps not a collection of grand pianos, but many people have items they have moved from place to place more than once, some of which are still in the boxes they were moved in.
An extreme example I describe in my Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui book is a man who shipped all his clutter from the UK to his new home in Canada, and there it sat in his garden in a huge container, unpacked and unused for 20 years until the time came to move back to the UK. When he announced he would be shipping the entire container back with them, his wife realized their relationship was over. From her standpoint, the 20-year sojourn in Canada had more than proved the point that nothing in the container was of any use. From his standpoint, it was with him to stay, whatever the cost. They both moved back to the UK but to separate houses.
A client I worked with this week had a similar plan, although on a smaller scale. She was intending to move to a new home and take the clutter currently strewn all over her current home with her. Eventually she realised she had it the wrong way around. She saw how much more sense it made to decide now what she really loves, uses and has room for, and let the rest go, rather than packing and moving it with her, only to clog up her basement, attic, junk room or garden shed for years to come. She’ll also have the pleasure of a fresh start in her new home, unfettered by things from the past.
The problem with keeping things you never use is not the items themselves. It’s the stagnant energy that collects around them, which in turn causes stagnation of one type or another in your life. Just as everything in your body works better when you’re fit and healthy, so everything in life works better when you surround yourself with free flowing energy in your home. If you’re happy with your life as it is, just leave things as they are. But if you would welcome change for the better, clearing out things you no longer use is the first essential step to make room for something new.
And when it comes to moving house, you may also want to spare a thought for how much time and money it will cost to haul all your old stuff with you. Beethoven is thought to have moved 64 times during the 34 years he lived in Vienna, and must have been able to afford to hire people to help him do so. But can you, and do you want to? He composed some of his greatest works during those years but was far from happy himself, which his residential restlessness no doubt reflected. How much his clutter contributed to this we’ll never know, but my personal guess is a lot. I’ve often observed that great people with clutter can achieve great things, but it is usually only the clutter-free among them who achieve personal happiness too.
So what is your equivalent of a Beethoven grand? Whether you’re moving, have moved, or have no intention of going anywhere, identifying and letting go of things you no longer need can open the door to new possibilities in your life. It’s well worth a bit of rummaging in the attic, or wherever you happen to have it stashed.
Copyright © Karen Kingston 2013