Throw Out Fifty Things

I attended a conference on hoarding disorder yesterday, 1/30/2021. Some of the materials reminded me of this book: Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life, authored by Gail Blanke and published in 2009.

Ms. Blanke, from her book cover, is “a world-class motivator, a former columnist for Real Simple magazine, and the president and chief executive of Lifedesigns, a company whose vision is to empower men and women to live truly exceptional lives.”  I don’t usually start book reviews with the author’s biography, but, in this case, her biography helps explain the book.

Ms. Blanke challenges us, with humor and patience, to examine our physical, mental and emotional clutter.  And suggests, gently, that we examine how easily emotional, mental, and physical clutter become intertwined.  She offers simple coaching to ease us into letting go of or cleaning up items which are causing us stress.  Ms. Blanke also cautions us to look for our self-criticizing habits, habits which often contribute to our accumulations of “stuff.”  Best yet, she teaches some ways to replace those destructive habits with positive ones.