True to my word, I hired an organizer for 2013. My purpose in hiring her was twofold. One, I wanted to get organized. Who doesn’t? Two, on a more divine note, I wanted to get rid of the clutter, the stuff that is no longer serving its function in my life, to make room for a new, more purpose-filled life.

I started the year with a vision board. My vision this year is to make money on my own. With the building market recovering nicely, Hubby is doing well by us. But I long for checks with my name on the top.

So I hired Alison Henson. I committed to 20 hours with her. We started with my office, and more specifically my office closet. It’s a walk-in closet, but the term walk-in was no longer relevant. At one time I kept the kids’ craft material on a shelf. But one day, a day when my head was turned for two seconds, they went in the closet and pulled every, single thing off the shelf at the top. In addition to all of the stuff already on the floor, there was now foam stickers of every shape and size, sheets, puzzles, glitter, sparkly pipe cleaners, beads (big beads, small beads, foam beads, string, shoe laces), Halloween candy, Easter candy, Candy I took away from them for not asking. I could go on and on about what a disaster this space had become. It took three visits with Alison to get this closet under control, but after it was done, the rest of the office fell into place.

Alison and I even took a trip to The Container Store to get some Elfa stuff. I bought three for the office and two for my daughter’s room. They had a sale for 30% off. We tackled my living room too.

After 20 hours with Alison I have accomplished more than I could have in a month, every day, six hours a day. I realized, in my own, past methods to de-clutter I used quick fixes – a tub here or there – rather than redefining how I do things. That’s where she helped the most – to redefine how I operate in my space.

She was also my therapist. She listened to what a failure I have felt like for my home being so messy and how my kids never listen to me when I tell, no threaten with every toy they like, them to clean up their messy ways. She coddled me into forgiving myself.

She also had me doing things I didn’t think I had time to do. My original plan was to have her help with my bedroom closet. It had gotten out of control from mornings of hurried dressings to take the kids to school and nightly exhaustion to get everyone, myself included, in the bed. I discovered it was easier for me to go through my closet with her voice in my head asking me, “How long has it been since you have worn this?” or “Do you really think you are going to fit into that again one day?” I found myself letting go of all of the clothes I previously had deemed keep-worthy for one reason or another.

And even though Alison and I had shopped for the Elfa drawers for my daughter’s room together, I did the work to organize her room myself.

None of this was easy, by the way. But so worth it!

Hiring an organizer was not something I normally would have done. It’s like buying a painting I think I can do myself. The chaos told me I needed to do something out of the box. I needed to open up my energetic flow – that Universal energy that sees how big I am, how much a part of something large and expansive I belong to, if I can only get out of my own way. Clearing the clutter helped open that up. It was cleansing, healing, and feels big – like I paid off a big debt.

And it worked too. Since completing my work with Alison I have received numerous calls for my skills. I see my desires coming to fruition at an ideal pace. I am suddenly at the perfect place at the perfect time to be in a position to see my vision board become a reality.

I won’t kid myself into thinking my space will stay neat and tidy forever. But next time I refuse to wait until the mess holds me down. In the future, I’m going to decide my budget, write down my needs and call my new best friend, my organizer, Alison.

Organizer: Alison Henson, 404-272-6970, ahenson@mindspring.com