Recently myself, Jill and Louise met with Zemirah Moffat to hear all about Zem’s work with people who hoard and her support group, Clutterchat.

At Outside the Box we know that making sure you are happy in your home is very important for your mental and physical health. We know that it can be easy to accumulate things over time and it can be hard to get rid of things without feeling you’re being ungrateful. In our Moving Assistance booklets we put together tips on making sure your home is right for you, including a booklet on reducing what you have.

It was great to hear that Zem’s Clutterchat group was hosting an exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art so I went along to find out more about the group.

The exhibition was a big mix of the different ways clutter gets into our lives. From a sock tree, made from all those odd socks we find ourselves keeping (for some bizarre reason), to a table laden with all the jars and cans we keep stored in our cupboards despite some of them being long past their use-by date.

The event wasn’t all focused on objects that we need to get rid of though. It was interesting speaking to people about what objects they have that mean a lot to them. A woman called Barbara was wearing a circus hat she bought to help her feel happy when she does jobs she would otherwise find overwhelming. Another woman proudly wore the paperclip necklace her daughter made for her.

Listening to people’s reaction to the exhibition demonstrated just how prevalent the issue of holding onto objects we don’t really want or need is. I got chatting to a woman looking at the exhibition who told me her husband has had an unopened jar of relish in the fridge for two years that he still is insisting he will open soon! The exhibition was really popular with lots of people looking at the various stalls and pieces of clutter art. I hope that the exhibition helped other people open up a conversation around what they have in their homes that they don’t need, and can donate, and what items they truly love and value.

Thanks to Zem for inviting us along; to find out more about Zem’s work and Clutterchat go to www.insightfulmoves.com.