During staff meeting the other day we were having a time of sharing and Jerry Reeder got up and shared about how he is currently in the midst of de-cluttering his life. As a partial minimalist (I can’t say I am a full minimalist yet!) I appreciate the open clean spaces free of clutter. Perhaps it is Van der Rohe’s International style influence or just the simplicity and austerity of the movement, but I love the peaceful serenity I feel when I am in a simple clutter free space. It does not have to be cold and austere to be simple. People confuse this and think that in order for something to be “warm and homey” it has to be filled with trinkets, knick knacks, baubles, and other tchotchkes. Nothing makes me less want to be in a room than when it is filled with visual claustrophobia.
Back to Jerry. His mantra right now is he is getting rid of clutter: in my space; in my mind; in my time. First you get rid of it in your space – the place you live and work. When you have piles of stuff everywhere, it is hard to maintain an efficient system of organization and it clutters…your mind. when your mind is cluttered with all this visual stimulation of your surroundings, your time is swiftly filled with clutter too. It’s a vicious cycle. I love before and after transformations. When you see a cluttered room cleaned out and the good pieces allowed to be seen and showcased and all the other stuff is removed, and you see the purity and simplicity. So it can be with our lives.
“God is in the details.” “Less is more.”
Jerry said he stood there, picked up and object and said, “But this is good. I can’t throw this away, I might need it someday.” He said the Lord spoke to him and said, “Sacrifice the good to make room for the best.” It was then that he decided that there are some things that are good, but you have to get rid of them to allow God to give you His best because that stuff is cluttering up your space, your mind and your time.
So, tonight I am doing some de-cluttering of my file cabinet. Getting rid of old papers and stuff that I have hung on to just because. Time to go…..
*Mies van der Rohe, speaking about restraint in design, the New York Herald Tribune, 28 Jun 1959.
** At some point, someone changed his quote to “the devil is in the details” and attributed it to him. He said “GOD is in the details.”