Clutter Overwhelm
What came first the chicken or the egg? This pile of papers or this empty food wrapper that is starting to grow its own … I'm not sure what that is? Yuk!
Don't you just hate that feeling? You may not notice it right away but once you do you can't get it out of your mind. You wake up to start a bright new day. There is a bunch of clothes hung over a chair in the corner of your room, and a few on the floor as well. Maybe a few cups on your night stand. Other random items strewn about that you have no idea how they got there. You get up and head to the bathroom where the garbage is overflowing, the sink covered in so many things you may never find that eyeliner you lost last week! The tub full of kids toys, multiple bottles of shampoo and soap that never seem to stay on the ledge. Then the living room is covered in dishes, to go containers, and yet again more toys! Blankets crumples and pillows on the floor. But really though, those toys are EVERYWHERE! Don't even get me started on the kitchen! This feeling is too much and crushing your day before it even really starts. You feel trapped and there is never enough time to clean it all! But the worst thing is it's so overwhelming day after day to see the mess even when you are not thinking about it. Even when you can ignore it your brain is still soaking it all in.
Science tells us that clutter overwhelm is a legit issue for most of the population. YOU are NOT alone in this! Clutter overwhelms us as it is extra stimuli for our visual awareness to absorb, well maybe a bit more than visual if the odors are a bit ripe as well. What is that smell anyway?!
When we have extra stimuli and our brains already have a lot going on especially unprocessed trauma clutter overwhelm is EXTRA hard to handle! So cluttered mind and cluttered house combined leaves little room for anything simple, clear, rested, or clean. But when you think about it life, especially in America is fast paced, do everything, keep busy, busy, busy! This alone keeps our minds cluttered and with being busy of course our homes are cluttered. Now throw in that trauma and it's almost unbearable. How can you relax at home when all this clutter is just sitting there staring at you? We have to find a way for AT LEAST one of these areas of our life to change.
We need to simplify, prioritize, rest (easier said than done!), and most of all heal. Healing the root cause of what keeps us in chaos and overwhelm is one of the biggest and best ways to break cycles you seem trapped in whether you realize you are in a cycle or not. Sometimes the relief and release of healing makes us realize what we didn't even know we were holding onto for SO MANY years!
Now comes the question.... how do you help combat this clutter overwhelm or just overwhelm in general? What better way to start your healing than to know you are not alone in your struggles. To know others are going through the same thing and have compassion for where you are at. I love my group trauma recovery program for this reason! A sisterhood of women who lift each other up. Know we are all going through so much, most of what was not brought about ourselves but that we still have to do the work to heal from.
If you are feeling this clutter overwhelm and ready for a change take a deep breath and sign up for my group course. I can't wait to see you there!
Disclaimer: Please note, I am not a doctor and trauma recovery coaching is limited to the scope of practice not for acute or urgent care and not a substitute for medical care or evaluation.
