For years my wife Karen and I toyed with the idea of moving our family from Florida to Virginia.

Last year, we finally took the plunge and rented a home near Charlottesville.

Our strategy was straightforward. If we liked it, we’d stay. If we didn’t, we’d return to Florida knowing we had at least given it a shot.

The move itself turned out to be an easy one. With the new home furnished right down to the bath towels and wine glasses, we packed up a few suitcases, flew to Virginia and threw our things in the closets. Done.

We quickly fell in love with Charlottesville and our new neighbors. We also learned something we hadn’t counted on.

All that stuff back home in Florida - the drawers, closets, cabinets, and storage bins overflowing with stuff we’d accumulated - we don’t miss it one bit. In fact, leaving it behind was, in many ways, liberating.

Maybe this shouldn’t have surprised us…

According to Peter Walsh, the organization expert for Clean Sweep, a series on TLC, we, as a nation, are overwhelmed with “stuff” and drowning in the clutter.

In some cases, it becomes overwhelming. Many of us have lost the ability to deal rationally and realistically with what we own.

It shouldn’t be that way, of course.

Your home is a metaphor for your life. It represents who you are and what you value. Eighteenth century architect William Morris argued that you should not have anything in your home that is not beautiful or functional.

Yet many of us flunk this basic test.

It’s not just that our homes are filled with more things than we could possibly use. Roughly 10% of American households have items in one of the more than forty thousand self-storage facilities in this country. This is a 75% increase over 12 years ago, even though the size of the average American house has increased by half.

Some consumers have even been tempted to move to bigger homes - or purchase a second one - to house all their stuff. These folks are really flying the white flag…

Your home should be the place where you live, breathe, love, relax and create. How can you do these things easily or well if you feel hemmed in?

No wonder people often describe their clutter in terms of suffocation, as in “I can hardly breathe in the garage” or “I’m buried under the mess in my office.”

There are severe health ramifications, too. Studies show that those who live with severe clutter are more likely to experience:

• Depression and anxiety-related illnesses
• Asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems (thanks to mold, dust and mildew)
• Headaches
• Sleeplessness
• Moodiness
• Low self-esteem
• Strained relationships
• Fatigue and low motivation

Aside from health issues, there are other good reasons to address this problem:

1. Clutter makes you forget your priorities. We all have important photographs, keepsakes and memorabilia. If something is truly valuable, it deserves a place of honor and respect in your home. But ask yourself if you really have the time - or interest - in savoring all those old magazines or the minutiae from your past buried in boxes in the attic or the garage?
2. Clutter jeopardizes your relationships. It causes tension among family members. It creates arguments about personal habits and disorganization. Some even confess that they rarely have visitors over because they are mortified by the clutter.
3. Clutter costs you money. We often hang on to unnecessary things because we “paid good money for them.” But if you can’t use them, give them to someone who can - or to charity.  Remember, too, that unused possessions are often expensive to store, insure, transport and maintain. (In worst cases, they create a fire hazard.)
4. Clutter steals your space. What good is your guest bedroom or home office if you can’t use them - or have to wade through? Clutter-free spaces create greater clarity, better moods and positive energy.
5. Clutter monopolizes your time. You may think you don’t have time to deal with all the junk you’ve accumulated. But what is it costing you in terms of lost items (including unpaid bills), stress, embarrassment and aggravation?
6. Clutter prevents you from living in the now. If we become fixated on stuff from the past or things “we might need some day,” we lose the only time we have to be alive: the present moment.
7. Clutter erodes your spiritual self. Your possessions should be tools to help you achieve your dreams, not hurdles that impede your progress. As Walsh writes in “It’s All Too Much,” “One of the main reasons I am so adamant about removing clutter is that I see how the space it occupies in people’s lives seriously hinders their personal growth and development. It crushes them spiritually.”

What’s the solution? Reclaim your life by making some hard choices.

According to Walsh, organizational discipline is secondary. Getting on the right path begins with imagining your ideal life, the atmosphere you want to create in your home, and the relationship you want to have with those you live with.

Some of us, I realize, have been surrounded by clutter for so long we don’t see it. (Even if we can’t see over it.) Others are apparently fine with it. Einstein, reputedly, was one of them.

However, most of us are not Einsteins. And we should be smart enough to realize that no one is going to resolve the mess but us - or, ultimately, our heirs. (And do you really want someone you love to inherit that headache?)

Clutter doesn’t just block your space. It distorts your vision. It prevents you from living the life you’ve envisioned. It can stress you out and alienate you from your partner, your family, and your dreams.

So start digging yourself out today. And if you feel like you really can’t deal with it, if the clutter is just too overwhelming, well…

There is another house opening up down the street in Charlottesville.

Carpe Diem,

Alex

P.S. I can’t thank you enough for your response to my new book “The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters.” It hit #3 on Amazon, thanks to you and, in part, the endorsement of Publisher James Livingston. If you would like to read his comments, click here.