(Decluttering in) The land of tea

I am currently in the land of tea - and discovering that you can continue to declutter one item a day even whilst travelling! I had intended to simply suspend the one-a-day rule whilst on the move but no - when travelling, I use different bags and purses and things. I find clutter. I remove it. Ta da. It feels good. I'm finding as I go on that it gets easier and easier to let things go, and I feel more comfortable with the things that are left.

In one of the decluttering blogs/videos I have been perusing - I can't remember where, if anyone reading knows please let me know and I will add a link - I came across the idea that clutter talks. Clutter speaks to you. You allow stuff to become clutter because you can't or don't want to make a decision about what to do with it, so you put it down and every time you walk past it, it says: 'I'm here! I'm still here! You need to [read/file/respond to/find a home for/get rid of/etc] me!' At first, this is a quiet reminder but it builds, and the more things you have, the more your home or work space becomes a cacophony of reminders for things you need to deal with. It becomes overwhelming, so you switch off, go away, or focus on something else. The chorus of chaos continues.

Each item that I am decluttering - however small or seemingly insignificant - simultaneously removes one voice, one instrument, one (dis)harmony from that orchestra of mental as well as physical clutter, and at the same time makes me feel more confident about my ability to deal with everything else. 

I'm now beginning to wonder what it would feel like to reach 'clutter silence'? To have no more reminders that I am avoiding? The first time I thought about having nothing left on my 'to do' list, no more superfluous stuff in my life, it was utterly terrifying. What would be left? But now I find it increasingly intriguing. When everything else gets taken away, what is left will be - me. And the things that are most important to me. I'm quite curious to see what that feels like.

But I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. One step at a time.

Picture from Wikipedia.