In this episode of Organize & Cherish, we explore the emotional weight of stored clutter and the items we keep out of sight but still carry with us. From a professional organizer’s perspective, Stephanie explains why storage can feel comforting, how emotional attachments quietly shape our spaces, and what clutter continues to do even when we’re not looking at it. This episode offers compassionate reframes, practical awareness tools, and one gentle action to help listeners move forward without pressure.
In This Episode, We Talk About:
- Why storage often starts as relief, not avoidance
- How “out of sight” clutter still impacts emotional well-being
- The difference between comfort and stagnation
- What stored items silently cost us over time
- How to approach emotional attachments without guilt or urgency
- A simple action to bring clarity back into storage spaces
Mentioned in This Episode:
- Episode 119: “Out of Sight, Still a Problem”
- Action of the Week
- AI Prompt of the Week
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hello and welcome back to Organize and Cherish the podcast where we talk about organizing, decluttering, downsizing, and all of the emotions that come with the stuff that we keep. Today we're talking about emotional attachments and more specifically the comfort of clutter, not the kind of clutter that that's like loud and and obvious, not the piles on your kitchen counter or the laundry chair that you see every day.
I'm talking about the clutter that lives in storage because as you know, here at the Organized Flamingo for this year, we are focused very heavily on storage. The year of the storage. What should we be doing with the stuff that we just keep piling up that's hidden, that's forgotten. We do need to address it.
Think about it once in a while, go and tackle it, and this is that year. So with that also comes a lot of emotion that is hidden in those storage rooms. Those are the things that are out of sight, but still very much doing something in the background of your life. So this episode is titled The Emotional Weight of Storage.
So we're talking about what clutter does when you're not looking, what can you do about it, and what are some actionable steps and tips that I have for you so you can move forward. And if you've ever said, I'll deal with this later, it's not bothering anyone or. At least it's put away. It's out of sight.
It's fine. It looks fine down there. Well, then this episode is for you Before we dive in. A quick note. This month marks three years of this podcast. If you are an original, an og, been here since the very beginning. You know that we did a name change about two years in. So a year ago this month we used to be organized and productive, and now we're organized and cherish.
It just felt like this was more alignment with us, and we continue with that tradition to cherish our stuff, to talk about the emotions, to talk about things that are within our reach, that we have control that we can take action on within our spaces. And I'm so happy that you're all still here. Happy anniversary to all of us, to all our listeners, to the podcast.
Um, three years of these con conversations and these stories and this work. It can sometimes just fly by so quickly. But when I look back at all the conversations and all the feedback that I have had from you, I am very proud and happy to continue this work. So that anniversary isn't the focus for today.
But I did want to say thank you for being here. Whether you've been listening since episode one or just found our show recently, I'm so glad that you're here. So let's cheer on another episode another year. And let's get into it.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherish Podcast with the Organized Flamingo. I am your host Stephanie, your compassionate and deficient professional organizer. Whether you are part of the sandwich generation helping a loved one declutter or. Just trying to simplify life. This is the place for you. Together we will tackle those overwhelming piles of stuff, uncover purpose in what we keep, and let go with dignity and care, because it's not just about throwing everything away, it's about respecting memories and simplifying life.
Sound like a plan? Let's jump in and get organized. So why does storage feel so comforting? So as a professional organizer. I do wanna say something very clearly about clutter in that it doesn't stick around because people are lazy or careless. Like that has never been my observation as a professional organizer that has done this for over 20 years now.
I'm not a mental health practitioner. If there's something else that is hidden or not talked about, not displayed, then I am not someone that can evaluate that or was hired to adjust or help with or identify. Okay. So if it was there, I was not aware of it, but my common consensus for me for over 20 years, it's been that clutter sticks around because at some point it did help.
Just piling stuff up was helpful. That it relieved some kind of stress in the moment, not just because people were trying to be careless or they were just so lazy. It just because that felt good. That was the solution in the moment. So it helped. And storage often begins as a relief. You're overwhelmed, you're grieving, you're busy, you're in a life transition, so you box things up.
You put them in a spare room, a basement, a garage, a storage unit, and in that moment it feels responsible. It feels calming, and it feels like you're buying yourself some time, but sometimes that's exactly what you need. So it's perfect. It's fine, but then that's where things quietly shift over time.
Storage stops being a pause button and it becomes a holding pattern. The items aren't being actively chosen, and it just continues from there. And so they're not being released. They're just being left there to sit with no intention whatsoever, whether to keep or not, or what even acknowledged. And emotionally that matters more than people realized.
The why becomes well, it just feels comforting. It feels comforting to have the storage space, whether it's the basement, the attic, the offsite unit, your closet, the guest bedroom that used to be a guest bedroom, but it's now a storage. It gets just nice to shove it in there, put it in there, close the lid, close the door, and forget about it and move on.
When we talk about these feel good moments, that, that are just, uh, they're not supposed to be there forever. Like that emotion was never meant to be forever, right? I mean, you, for the most part, people know that the storage unit or the basement is just kind of, for now it's like the space that you put stuff for now, but that out of sight doesn't mean that it's inactive.
And that's what we're, we're gonna talk a lot about and what to do about it when you get into these holding patterns. Back in episode one 19, we did talk about the idea of out of sight is still a problem, and I wanna build on that from here. You don't have to listen to that episode to keep with this one or do the action in the tip at the end of the episode.
But if you're looking for a little bit more background about this and what happens psychologically, like the out of sight is still a problem, then head on over to episode one 19. Uh, because even when you're not seeing your stored items every day, your nervous system system knows that they're there.
Those items represent those unfinished decisions, the unresolved grief, postponed identity shifts, and sometimes guilt. And I hear this all the time from clients. I don't think about it that often. Yeah, I'm keeping it because I feel bad throwing it away or, well, my dad gave it to me, he built it for me. My mom re-gifted it, or she found it and it's just, or my mother-in-law, or my sister or my grandmother, you name it.
The relative, the loved one. I just feel bad. And then in the same breath though it's, but every time I go down there, I feel overwhelmed. I feel heavy. It looks ugly. I don't even care for this stuff. And that heaviness is not random. It's the emotional weight of open loops. Story tolds, the things that we don't have the energy, clarity or permission to decide on at that time.
And those decisions don't disappear just because the door is closed. So then you become this person who is in this open loop of feelings. Box it up, let's put it in. Let's close the lid, let's close the book, the door, wherever you're storing it, and I'll come back to it at some point. And you just go in this loop, an endless loop, and it starts to pile up literally.
And it's comforting. It feels good and it makes sense. So let's talk about comfort for a second, right? Because it's important, I think it's important to acknowledge these things are happening psychologically and in order for you to move on. So you, you kind of see what's going on, that you're completely normal, that it happens to the best of us, but how do we break out of it?
But to break out of it, I feel very strongly that people should at least know what's going on or what could be going on. Because clutter can be comforting because it keeps old versions of ourselves really close. I've seen that quite a bit. Uh, it's the, I used to be that size, so you keep a lot of clothes that were from that era when you were that size.
It prevents connection to people or seasons that were not ready to release. That's where a lot of grief comes in. I also see it with grief of relationships where somebody had a divorce or a high school ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, relationships from past, even jobs. So people will preserve that connection to people, um, because they're not really ready to release the entire situation.
Creates the illusion of safety or preparedness. See this all the time. Some people are total minimalist. By the way, like a lot of minimalist, but they're really trying to prepare for the worst in some ways. And so everything might be clean and tidy and they throw everything away, but they have their stash for just in case life happens and the whole world falls apart.
And so they keep these things just in case for safety or preparedness, but they take it to the other side where it just starts to accumulate. Right. And they don't get, it doesn't get addressed. Sometimes clutter will say to you. I'm not ready. Move on yet. And then that's just human like you can see it. I can hear it from the, for the fifth is physical stuff.
Like I could hear it from my own stuff sometimes, but here's the organizing truth that I want you to hear. Comfort and stagnation can look very similar. When clutter becomes a place where emotions settle instead of move, it quietly limits what's next. So not dramatically and not overnight, but subtly. And it takes up physical space and emotional bandwidth like little by little, and that's why it's such a dangerous space to let it go or to let it, like let the clutter or let the boxes pile up.
Because you're not seeing it, you don't, you're not seeing that it's getting, I mean, sometimes you can see that it's actually getting dusty, but if it has, if you have it nicely put together, put away in boxes, you might not see the stuff inside and how it's getting damaged. So you think there's nothing wrong and that can cost you.
Right. Storage can absolutely quietly be costing you. It's. This part a lot of people don't talk about. Um, store to clutter often costs you that ease the flexibility, the energy and confidence in your ability to make decisions. Making cost you a lot of money in storage fees, larger homes that you need, uh, or times spent managing things that you don't use.
Those two last things I see all the time. People that moved into a bigger home or with a bigger garage or a bigger a basement so they can store all their stuff. That they don't really use. Okay. I'm not talking about if you're a collector, like a professional collector, or you have a big holiday Christmas display and you actually put it out and you, you know where everything is.
I am not talking to you. I am talking to the people that have intentions of doing those things, and it just becomes more work to manage it. But more than anything, it, it does. Cost mental clarity, and that's probably the most expensive resource that you have that storage spaces take Yes, financially, if you're paying for it, especially those offsite ones, um, storage.
But that mental clarity, very expensive. You're, you're just feeling overwhelmed. You know, it's there. Every box is a reminder of something unfinished or a person or a situation. And when enough of those reminders stack up, people feel stuck. Even if life looks fine, quote unquote, on the surface, hi, cherish friends.
Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between. That's why I created the Organizing Cherish Weekly email. That goes out every Wednesday straight to your inbox to help you keep the momentum inspiration going with tips and reminders of our upcoming events.
All you have to do is head on over to organize and cherish.com and sign up for the email newsletter. It's free and you can up subscribe whenever you'd like. It's my way of helping you simplify your life and respecting memories along the way. Now back to our show. So let's do a little bit of a gentle reframe, and this is important, okay?
I don't want this episode to feel heavy or shaming because it's not helpful. So here's the reframe I use with clients that storage isn't a failure. It's information. It tells us what mattered, what was too hard at the time, what still needs compassion. The goal is not to rush in and purge everything. The goal is to turn.
The lights back on slowly and intentionally in there for the action of the week, choose one stored item or box and ask, or many of you are ready to tackle many of them. What is this still doing for me? Not should I keep it? What do I do with it? Why do I still have this? Just what is this still doing for me?
Is it giving me comfort? Is it giving me memory? Is it giving me avoidance to something? Is it giving me security? So write down that answer. Have that awareness because the awareness alone creates movement. If you are in a place where these questions could be a little harder than you anticipated. This could be a, a good gentle reminder to seek either help from a mental health provider, talk to a good friend that you trust, can guide you through this, uh, maybe a sibling if or relative that knew the people, because a lot of you are dealing with the stuff that you inherited from others.
So if you need a little more guidance and help with others, don't forget that that support is there. We are also here for you. We always host our, our organized and cherish chats on the third Wednesday of the month at 10:00 AM Mountain time. Do your math, your time math there. Depending on where you are, we are there for an hour.
If you just wanna hop on for some accountability and be on mute and you can declutter, we could be, you know, you just can get some, some inspiration. Wonderful. If you wanna talk through. What should I do with this stuff? I, I think it's giving me false security or I'm just overwhelmed. Let's talk it through and create a plan.
It's completely free to join, you know, it's for, again, third Wednesday of the month. It's for an hour and you completely get to do whatever you'd like for that hour. But we're there for you in our presence. Like live, like this isn't a, a prerecorded anything. We're there with you live so. Hope that that can create at least some momentum for you to start going into those storage rooms, storage areas, open it up, have those questions, what is this still doing for me?
Be honest about it and let's move forward from there. Okay? If you are using AI tools, you know anything from the Gemini, chatt, Claude, whatever is the IT thing right now, um, here's your AI prompt of the week. This is a request that many of you gave me. So I'm listening to you. Uh, we are here for you for live support in the decluttering organizing space, but I also understand that you are getting some help from the chat boxes, and I love that.
I think, I think any help that creates momentum and clarity and compassion within yourself and the others that are also affected by the clutter or all the stuff, the better. Okay, so I am going to be adding these AI prompts of the week. Um, I'm putting them in our, going forward. I'm not really going to talk about it here in the, in the podcast.
I'm going to be putting it in our Organized and Cherish weekly newsletter that goes out every Wednesday to sign up for that. It is on our website. But I'll give you an example of what we will be, what we'll be offering with this prompt. Okay. Um, so you are going to ask it, help me understand why I feel attached to this item.
So put in the item, insert whatever that item is. Maybe take a picture of it, ask me thoughtful questions to clarify whether this is comfort. Fear identity or something else and suggest one gentle next step that doesn't require getting rid of it yet. Or how can I get rid of this in a compassionate way?
Or at that point, insert what it is that you'd like the outcome to be. Okay. This prompt works because it supports reflection before action. Which is exactly how sustainable organizing happens. You know, we are all about reflection before action, being intentional, having a bit of a plan. It doesn't have to be perfect.
It doesn't have to be like lined up, crossing all the T's, dotting all the i's, but having some intention in your organizing and having that reflection before you begin. We'll help you move forward much easier, much, uh, much easier, much quicker, and with your heart being in a better place. Okay. As opposed to it being torture and feeling like everyone is just making you throw away things when you're not ready, because we don't believe that that works long term.
If this episode resonated, of course, it, you know, save it, subscribe. We, I'm so happy that you're here, but it also helps us when you share it so that we know that this is helpful and that we can help. As many people as possible. So come back to it when you're standing in front of a storage door and you, you've been avoiding it, come back to this episode.
This could be a good little push again. Okay, so next week we'll continue the conversation with the storage year, uh, the storage rooms. And until next week, if you need anything, come join us over either on social media or on our email newsletter at the Organized Flamingo. Cheers until next week and happy organizing.
Thank you for listening to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps others discover our show. For full show notes, resources, and more organizing inspiration, visit www.theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast.
Until next time, happy organizing.