Comments on: Documentary defends the clutter lifestyle

By: jooly

jooly — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:42:20 +0000

Frank, when I visit other’s people home where they own a dog, I feel uncomfortable. I’m not scared, I’m just not a dog-person. Even if it’s a tidy home, the dog is everywhere, because of its size/dander/smell/toys/licking/barking. Does that mean these people have a problem? Does that mean they should change because I don’t like it? Nooooooooooooo. It’s their choice, so I let them be.
I watched the doc and really enjoyed it. In one experiment, all of the guests were asked to find an important piece of paper. A few found it as quickly as a self-proclaimed neat person (under one minute if I recall correctly), another longer,and only one couldn’t find it. Well, turns out clutter is a problem for this one person only. So don’t make general assumptions please.
And don’t worry, I’m doing my part to have less clutter.

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:59:09 +0000

I’m neither excessively tidy nor neat, but I must say I feel more comfortable in a moderate amount of mess than in those neat-freaks’ homes that make you feel like tip-toeing or ceasing to breathe.

Just about everything people have said so far (with the exception of Alioxen) about messiness could be said about obsessive neatness. Some neat freaks take tidiness to such extremes that their living spaces feel like museums. Such places make anyone but neat freaks feel like outsiders excluded from any participation in the living arrangement. Obsessive cleanliness and neatness is just as akin to a mental illness as complete and utter disorderliness and dirtiness.

As for Nature’s “messiness”. Well, she IS messy! She drops stuff all over the place, has exploding volcanic fits, burns forests, floods and quakes land, splits trees apart with lightning bolts, erodes rock, turns everything upside-down with hurricanes and tornadoes, etc. And then calm returns and she grows back again until the next time.

Just like my house . . .

By: HeatherCheryl

HeatherCheryl — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:03:14 +0000

Eeeew, how can he even think in an office like that! He thinks he knows where everything is but I would challenge him on that; he knows where many things are…and I am sure there are also many lost things buried in there!

By: Alioxen

Alioxen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:21:25 +0000

I haven’t seen the show, but I think that it’s easy for messy people (like myself – not as bad as what’s pictured here though) to assume that it’s the natural state. I’m headed towards unclutterdom, but not without struggle. If something just happens to end up ‘there’ (i.e. under the table, middle of a pile, anywhere where it’s of no use at all) it seems like the will was its own and not mine. In that way the migration of objects has an organic pattern. I feel like an unhappy bird disassembling it’s nest when I throw away too much stuff. I’ve never seen a bird do that. Ah, but I’m learning…

In answer to messy people in neat houses. That depends on the house. One friend had a house like a showroom. Well decorated, meticulous. It was gorgeous, but I didn’t want to participate with the environment at all, lest it become imperfect somehow, and more than that, I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable with me, having to follow behind and ensure that i had coasters, that there wasn’t any water droplets on the sink, that i didn’t knock any mud on the carpet when i took my shoes off. I thought ‘geez, all the things she’s missing out on by cleaning SO much.’ I felt sad for her, and would rather we went out so she didn’t have to be attentive, and I didn’t have to feel the proverbial bull in the china shop.

My other friend, no worries. Always tidy, but not hyper-vigilant. I never felt uncomfortable at her place, because she would let us help her clean up after dinner, and wouldn’t worry if we missed a coaster (not that we did, because she’d leave them out for us), and she wouldn’t get up spontaneously mid-conversation to tidy up. So it’s about the atmosphere of the house, not it’s clutter!

sorry bout the long post, but there’s my two cents!

By: Oksoimnotperfect

Oksoimnotperfect — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:25:08 +0000

I too saw the show – as they visited different messy places they would get them to try and find a specific item – some of the people were able to find the objects very quickly – others not so much – but definitely added to the interest of the show.

I’m in the process of decluttering so I watched to see if they had any tips – not really but it was motivation for me to keep going!

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:07:23 +0000

There were a couple of things I found amazing about the documentary.

One clutteree said (approximately): “I don’t see the point of dealing with each paper each day. I find that if I leave a piece a paper for a couple of years it is much easier to know if it is garbage or not. It’s just not worth my time to decide this every day.” [She is currently cleaning her office because the location is changing.]

Another point was made by the film maker. He said (again approximately): “I am an artsy person. I keep all these papers because I am thinking about them. When I stumble across things while searching for something else, I see the connections between ideas better.”

But the truly amazing part was when each clutteree was given a treasure to search for. The find times were very short (under 5 mins) except for the guy that had multiple apartments of memorabilia (who never found his item).

By: MB

MB — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:27:41 +0000

I have a friend who lives a pretty cluttered life but not as extreme as what was shown. I do feel uncomfortable at times when I first enter her home but once we find, or clear, a space for me to sit and we start talking the clutter disappears and only my friend remains.

By: :::::::::::: wife mom maniac ::::::::::::

:::::::::::: wife mom maniac :::::::::::: — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:36:44 +0000

I’m working towards uncluttering my life and having a simpler home because I live in a small simple bungalow with soon to be three children, clutter happens easily here anyways but it’s easier to clean up when there’s less things. However, I love being in fun cluttered houses if the clutter is made up out of interesting things, collections, cool books and magazines, wierd objects, travel knick knacks etc. I can enjoy uncluttered and cluttered homes, depending on what kind of stuff there is in them either way. I look forward to seeing this documentary!

By: John

John — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:31:47 +0000

I watched the documentary with my mother, who is a unclutter fanatic (to the point of OCD). And myself, who is also an unclutter faithful. The main point was that being clean and uncluttered was not conducive to being creative and free. It was as if he assumed that clutter was the norm, and people who were neat were forcing themselves to be so. It was obviously agenda driven, and not objective. I found it fascinating from a psychological standpoint on how human beings cling to so much stuff as if to attempt to bring permanence and importance to that stuff (junk – stuff people have to throw away after you die…) in an impermanent life. Its amazing how much of a persons self constructed environment is an extension of their own mind and its workings.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:59:24 +0000

@Jessica — We have http://unclutterer.com/2007/10.....n-sterile/

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:47:14 +0000

I’d like to comment on “neatness” seeming “sterile.” I’m a former messy person, and I paid the price: getting a thumbtack stuck in my foot, losing bills and paying late fees, etc etc. Messy is bad! But neatness does not have to look “sterile.” What about art and decorating with color? My tidy living room includes a sock monkey and a unicycle. And when my friends come over, there’s always somewhere to sit and room for potluck dishes on my dining table.

By: Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com

Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:52:20 +0000

I have to agree with Louise. I feel a lot of stress if I visit someone with a messy home, like I am not supposed to be there. It certainly doesn’t feel welcoming. Maybe I just get caught up in what it “could be”. I can visualize how nice things can be and it’s hard to sit still.

As for living in that home office-I don’t think you could pay me enough money to live there. It would be enormously stressful and I don’t think I could tolerate not being able to find things, not being able to find a clear place to work, not being able to see my to do list with all of the distractions of the messy papers. There is no way that I could be creative and write my blog posts in there.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:38:38 +0000

The Clutter-as-Freedom mentality drives me CRAZY.

First of all, YOUR freedom impacts the people who have to live with you. Unfortunately, kids don’t have a choice.

Secondly, YOUR freedom violates fire codes.

Thirdly, YOUR freedom is also a pest magnet. Even if you don’t have roaches or rats, you will definitely end up with silverfish and spiders.

I’m sorry, it’s just selfish.

By: Alison

Alison — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:56:41 +0000

More from a former messy: When I was in my earlier 20′s I house sat for a coworker whose wife had a _very_ high paying job. I remember going to their extremely uncluttered house (probably cost near a million) and being appalled that they had all this money and yet they didn’t use any of it to “show some personality.” Like I was actually scornful of the fact that they didn’t have a single magnet on their fridge, haha. And I remember in the bathroom they had a pretty big storage cupboard but she had ONE facial wash and maybe ONE moisturizer in it, and that was it. SHOCKING! I felt that they lacked creativity for living in a home that looked like a page from a Pottery Barn catalog. But you know what, now she’s my HERO. I realize now that they had it right! What had I been thinking?

By: John

John — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:38:45 +0000

Let us know if you find the documentary online. I still cannot imagine living like that!!