I was in the train station a few weeks ago and saw an advertisement for a personal organizer on the bulletin board: “For only $50 an hour, I will organize your rooms, drawers, closets … ” All of the rip-off tags with the organizer’s phone number had been taken. Apparently there are a lot of people out there willing to pay a stranger $50 an hour to to organize all their stuff. I had a good laugh and forgot about it.
Then, sitting down to read The New York Times a few days later, I saw an article about a personal organizer in New York City. She charges $150 an hour. At first it was a somewhat entertaining article, but it actually became a very sick view into the world of excess and waste. Multiple garbage bags full of toys, clothes, youth trophies, etc. were all thrown in the trash. Not one mention of donating items to other people or agencies.
And this particular organizer’s thoughts on childhood memorabilia were downright disturbing!“There were the notebooks, now touching artifacts, filled with the earliest handwriting of the couple’s 8-year-old son, Lucas. “Everybody’s going to learn how to read and write,” Ms. Reich said. “You don’t need the evidence.”
Wow. Followed by:
“Candy Land? Between sporting events, music lessons and charity galas, who has time? Goodbye!”
So, what she’s really saying is, who has time to sit down and play a board game with your child when you’re getting dressed up for a black-tie event?
What does this article say about how much meaning we put into what we possess? And in whose eyes do we see worth–through the eyes of a personal organizer?
What’s your approach to the “stuff” in your life? As a best-selling book today asks, Do you only keep what brings you joy?
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