A home is a complex living organism. It can be happy or sad. It can be healthy or unhealthy. It may suffer from simple untidiness or suffocate because of disposophobia (fear of throwing things away). In fact most of the houses suffer from this latter syndrome. No matter how much we try to make the house more beautiful, adding that nice colourful cushion, or that original statuette, rarely do we remember to get rid of that useless something else. It is not so much the organization at home that is lacking, but rather it’s learning to let things go. Things in general, useless things, the things that accumulate. Sometimes I try to imagine what my house would say if it could talk. Probably: "Can't you see that there's no more space?"
I am a bit of a hoarder. I always say I’m not attached to things, in fact I have no problem giving away anything I have, but I admit I have so many. I have paintings covering every bare bit of wall there is, I have fairies, lights and wooden birds hanging from the beams in my living room, I have candles and crystals on the shelves, I have bowls of stones gathered from the beach, I have shells and beads. I have a collection of old phones. I have a lot of books.
When I moved from my last house, downsizing considerably, I put all my “favourite” books into boxes and left them in storage. After five years I found myself having to deal with them. I went through all the boxes and I ended up keeping four. Of the four I kept, I took out about 20 books and stuck them into book cases and shelves, the rest I brought to my office, where they are piled high up to the ceiling next to my filing cabinet. What keeps me so attached to these books? Some of them remind me of moments of the past where I sat and read and felt inspiration warm my soul, others made me cry, some are about amazing adventures I still dream of. They are comforting and reassuring.
Houses are such personal spaces! And such mirrors of ourselves…. When you start assessing what diseases your house might have, you are in fact analysing yourself and be prepared!
I think I started understanding how my house was affecting me when I started working on my bedroom. I used to have a whole wall full of hearts of all sizes and materials; I also had a bit of a mould problem in the corners. I took down everything, repainted and treated the walls and I found myself in an empty white space. Now when I enter my room I can leave all the chaos outside, find my living space and fall asleep in that inspirational void where anything is possible.