By michael - February, 3rd 2014

We all want to be happy in some way or another. We strive each day to find the path of happiness whatever we think it is. But some of us come up way short. Some of us make mistakes day in and day out that take us away from the shining beacon of happiness at the end of the tunnel.

“Order is Heaven’s first law,” wrote the poet Alexander Pope, and one of the things that has surprised me most is the inverse relationship between clutter and happiness. In the context of a happy life, maintaining a roomy coat closet or a bare kitchen counter may seem like a trivial accomplishment, but somehow it can have a grand effect on your level of happiness.

For most people — and this is certainly true for me — outer order contributes to inner calm. When I’m surrounded by a mess, I feel restless and unsettled, but clearing clutter gives me a surge of energy and cheer (plus, it lets me find my keys).

Because the fight against clutter is a never-ending battle, I’m always looking for strategies to stop its insidious progress. For instance, I recently resolved to go shelf by shelf, then drawer by drawer, then closet by closet, through our apartment.

I weighed …

 

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