BEHIND THE BLOG

As writer, teacher, jewelry-maker and everyday woman, I'm fascinated by the ways that clarity and clutter shape creative lives. To me, the question of how much stuff we have is far less important than how much time, freedom and focus we can bring to our creative efforts. Sure, sometimes clutter manifests tangibly, as supplies, possessions, or mementos. But just as often it appears in less physical (but no less powerful) forms: as distractions, drains, obligations, expectations, judgments, and fears that leave us no time or energy to make art or even dream dreams. My first "DeClutter Your Creativity" classes were inspired by my own personal struggle to find the balance of abundance and emptiness needed to fuel my work...and to find it again, and again, and again as my life and work evolve. This blog is another way to dialogue on the subject: written with curiosity, compassion and (sometimes) comedy from the often befuddling place where creativity and clutter meet.

Friday, June 4, 2010

SIMPLE: IT'S NOT THE SAME AS MINIMAL

When you think about clearing out or decluttering, don't confuse function and style.

Clear, unclogged, functional, open, simple to use, and easy to maintain describe the experience you have in, and with, a space. Minimal, empty, modern, Shaker, and Zen just describe its look.

Your creative space can feel everything named in that first group of word without looking like any of the words in the second.

My friend Dolores' Manhattan apartment was a case in point. Her apartment was small, her interests were many, she taught piano lessons at home, and she had already lived six decades of rich, varied life by the time I met her. It's not surprising that she had a lot of things, and that they were packed fairly densely in the restricted space. Yet Dolores' apartment wasn't problematically cluttered. Things were in their place no matter when I dropped in. The cupboards and closets she opened were orderly, the pathways clear, the furnishings old but well maintained. Her piano lessons were given and enjoyed in comfort. Dolores struggled with a whole lot of life challenges in the years we both lived in Manhattan, but feeling hampered or confined by her stuff wasn't one of them.

Don't shame or blame yourself your house or studio doesn't look like a Zen monastery or a home from a lifestyle magazine. Accept your own personal style, taste, and preferences without judgment. 'Test' your spaces based on how free and comfortable you feel within them, not on how they look.

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