The other day, visiting the home of a potential new client, I realised I always tell people that although there’s no academic research proving decluttering is good for health and well-being, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence. Professionally, I see it all the time - yes, some of my longer-term clients have lost weight, started exercising or changed their job/relationships – but more importantly they all feel better. Read the testimonials of any professional organiser to see the evidence (including my own). Here’s a small insight into my own observations, and a few pointers to some anecdotal research...

Sometimes I wonder if I need to add ‘Do you fall in love with all your clients?’ to my FAQs. The answer’s yes. It feels worth clarifying.

I like crying. I find it useful, inevitable, cathartic. Someone close to me was in hospital recently. I spent a lot of time trying not to cry – I didn’t want to worry her. But it had to come. I went to choir practice. As we rehearsed a gentle, loving song I found myself doing that coming from right deep inside snot crying on a choir buddy’s shoulder. It was a turning point. The next day it felt like something had shifted and I coped O so much better with hospitalised loved one. My choir buddy had let me know it was unsurprising I was so distressed – anyone would have been. I felt optimistic again; less overwrought, normal.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

I hate that word - should.

My level-headed, accepting, tolerant self has observed my overwhelmed self over the last few months. It’s this website. You’d think someone with a fair bit of web experience and an eye for design would be more than capable of putting together a website – but this one’s different. This is my website, my livelihood, my ethos, about me. I’ve had to work through some stuff, I’ve learned loads, it’s been a journey.

It’s February, the weather is awful and every day I practise being grateful I have not suffered the devastation, loss and disorder others have in the storms and flooding in parts of the country.