Release Clutter For More Joy

You’ve heard it before: Declutter! Minimize! If it doesn’t bring you joy get rid of it!

But will getting rid of clutter actually bring you joy? If so, how?

There are physical benefits to having less clutter, like having less mess to see and deal with. Messes can be draining on your psyche and physical energy. There are esoteric effects: making physical space in your life will open up space for things you love. But let’s look in terms of the Five Element Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine to see if that sheds any light.

The ancient Chinese derived their theory of medicine based on nature: they separated the world into five elements: fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. They noticed that each element interacted with the others, and when all was well between elements, the earth was in harmony. They found those same elements and relationships within us, and when one or more of the elements were out of balance, we would suffer disharmony or disease.

In Chinese Medicine, the emotion of joy corresponds to the fire element. The organs corresponding to fire are the Heart (yin) and Small Intestine (yang.) For completeness, there is another pair of organs in the fire element, the Pericardium and Triple Warmer, but let’s focus on the former.

It makes sense that joy corresponds to the heart, when we open our heart we feel loving. The heart is associated with love and joy. But the Small Intestine?

Well, that’s actually where things get interesting. The function of the Small Intestine sheds light as to why clutter can lead to the depletion of joy, and the ridding of clutter to the return of joy.

In Chinese medicine, the function of the Small Intestine — not totally unlike our western understanding — is to separate the pure from the impure. When food exits the stomach, where it has been broken down, the Small Intestine absorbs the nutrients into the body to use as energy, and allows the waste to pass to the Large Intestine, and then be discarded. The Small Intestine’s function is to make that determination: what is useful to the body to keep, and what to get rid of? When it functions well physically, we have energy and feel great. But in Chinese medicine, we don’t just look at the physical aspect of the function: we look at the emotional, mental, and spiritual as well. If we extend the idea of separating pure from impure, and we look at our homes and our environments: are we keeping what we need, and getting rid of the rest? Or are we hoarding, filling our spaces with clutter? If our fire element is working well, our homes and spaces are rid of clutter, and we feel the joy in our surroundings and our life.

If our life lacks joy, and our home is filled with mess and clutter, we can see that our fire element is out of balance. One way to bring it into balance is to get rid of our clutter: bring energy back into the yang aspect of the fire element: separate the pure from the impure. If you don’t need something or benefit from it, donate it or throw it away. Start slowly, but you will soon pick up steam because yang is about movement and once you start to bring a spark to the yang function of the fire element, it will pick up steam on its own. As you clear out your clutter your fire element becomes clearer and healthier, and the joy floods back into your life.

To find out more about the five elements, you can take my free assessment, and you’ll receive information about each element with your results. Remember, this is not a medical diagnosis. It’s just another way to think about your life, health and well-being. Enjoy!