The Untidy Corners of Life

Proclaim your true calling and see what happens. Eight years ago I did just that. With the ink not yet dry on my DBA, I had my first client. A referral, I was told she was an eclectic artist needing assistance sorting possessions left in a former residence. My first gig was in fact a full blown Collier Style hoard.  I was energized, armed with rookie enthusiasm and ready to set Miss Molly's world right!  I would support, encourage and be her best friend during a process that required her to touch each and every piece before assigning it's ultimate fate. How hard could it be? My arrival at our first appointment with a special sign that read  "Dare To Let Go" was met with, "I don't like that at all!" Letting go was going to have to start by releasing items someone drowning in stuff could not possibly need. A single pillow tassel embalmed by grease and dust, so obviously trash (in my eyes) was offered up and met with painful consideration. Five silent minutes passed. Turning it over in her hand and mind, it seemed this tassel still held untold purpose and possibility. Suddenly she lays the item down and says she simply cannot decide at this time. We move on, this time a bread basket she really loves BUT she can picture herself living with out. She presents it to me like a gift. "Thank you Molly" I say.  This is what works and we rinse and repeat for weeks. I am in deep and getting an education into what Molly declares one day, with the wisdom of a philosopher, that all this stuff is just "The untidy corners of life. Everyone has them." Indeed.  After many years, hundreds of clients, mountains of possessions sorted, staged and sold I took on my most interesting project yet. I became my own client and have chosen to fully explore minimalism. I am in and in deep. This is my blog about excavating my untidy corners and experiencing life on another level.