5 Questions with Tisha Morris

1. Most people think of clutter as jumbled piles of stuff, but you write about “organized clutter” as well. How do you define clutter?

Clutter is anything in your possession that you don’t love or use. This could include expensive items and, yes, even well-organized items. The energetic weight of the clutter is the same. Clutter keeps you stuck in the past and prevents you from moving forward in your life.

2. What do you offer as an entry point to begin the process of decluttering when it feels overwhelming?

Overwhelm is the predominant challenging emotion in our collective right now, and our homes reflect this. The solution for both is the same: Create more space. For a more balanced approach, start in your home with easy stuff. The sooner you can relieve the space of visual clutter, the sooner you will have peace of mind again. You are creating more space between you and overwhelm.

3. You offer a powerful image of a snake shedding its skin as a metaphor for decluttering. Can you say more about that?

We are no longer living at a time when we have one occupation for our entire life, or even the same spouse. More people are having spiritual awakenings and answering the call to take the Hero’s Journey. The problem comes when our stuff keeps piling up as we shapeshift into new versions of ourselves. There’s a natural dying and rebirth that takes place in nature, but we resist this process.

4. You write that clutter keeps our shadows in the dark. How can we start to bring light to those shadows?

If you wonder what your shadows, or blind spots, are, then just look in your closet or other storage spaces. We literally store away the aspects of ourselves that we don’t want to look at or deal with. This is why decluttering can be such a powerful process. We can actually see our blocks.

5. The idea that clearing clutter can help us be more creative is interesting. How does that work?

It’s common for creative people to have a messier space than more analytical people. Creatives often believe this helps them stay in a creative flow. Making a mess while doing art is needed to allow the analytical brain to get out of the way. But having an organized space when not doing art will support the process. Ideas, inspirations, and insights happen in a flash. Holding on to old ideas that have run their expiration will prevent new ones from coming in.