It's the launch of Peter's Clutter Challenge, an easy-to-follow program that runs for 10 weeks on Oprah.com and will help you tackle your clutter once and for all! Peter is taking your calls and challenging listeners to log on, get started and get out from under that mess by the end of the summer. Then, Oprah Radio host Dr. Robin joins the show to share her insights on the underlying causes of clutter and what you can do to get rid of it for good.
Both Dr. Robin and Peter say that clutter is not just a physical issue of too much junk and too little space—it's an emotional and spiritual issue that revolves around self-care and self-worth. "When there's clutter in people's lives, it usually means I'm not on top of my own self-care, it means that I'm too busy, it means that I'm using my energy in the wrong places, with the wrong people, for the wrong reasons," Dr. Robin says.
Unless you dig deep and get to the root of your emotional issues, Dr. Robin says clutter can literally consume you. "It's so easy to have a pile of things that is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger, because I'm shrinking in terms of my own self-importance and self-care," she says.
If you find yourself attached to things because of the memories they hold for you, Peter says your problem is most likely "memory clutter." In order to tackle memory clutter, Dr. Robin says you need to deal with the grief and sadness that often accompanies such items—whether it represents a painful time in your life or something that has ended but you just don't want to let go of. "The place to start is to deal with the grief of what it will mean as I begin to look at these things—these things aren't what I'm attached to," she says. "The issue is that I'm so detached, I'm so disconnected from myself and my own needs."
If you find that much of your clutter consists of things that you think you may need at some unknown time and place in the future, Peter says you're probably preoccupied with fear. "Most people who live with that kind of fear actually don't get their needs met because they don't know what their needs are because fear is blocking their vision," Dr. Robin says. She says the solution to handling I-might-need-it-someday clutter is to deal with your fear, live in the present and consider the opportunities you may be missing out on right now.
Both Dr. Robin and Peter say that when you come face-to-face with your clutter enemies, you make room for growth and happiness in your life. "Get rid of fear, get rid of grief, allow abundance and excitement and motivation and focus to come into your life," Peter says.
