The Odd Origins of the Word “Clutter”
Did you know that the word clutter originally had nothing to do with junk drawers or messy closets? It actually comes from the Middle English word clotter, which meant “to coagulate” or “to form into lumps.”
Picture
clotted cream, or worse, a traffic jam of stuff blocking your hallway. Over time, clotter evolved into clutter, and instead of thickening milk, it came to describe that lumpy buildup of too many things in too small a space.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? Clutter isn’t always a pile of garbage. It’s more like a coagulation of
stuff that once made sense but has lost its function. A spare cord here, a lonely lid there, a stack of paper you meant to sort two seasons ago.
It starts out innocently, but before you know it, it’s clogging up your flow.
So today, think of clutter as something that thickens the space around you. What one “clot” can you dissolve? Maybe it’s a shelf full of expired condiments or that drawer of tangled chargers. Clear one clot, and you’ll instantly feel the energy flowing again.
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Here's what just one GON reader had to say...
"Hello Maria, I so enjoy these daily emails from you. They have made a world of difference in how I look at clutter in my life! Thank you so much!"
-- Sandra Cooley
