Bare Essentials: Cutting Clutter from Your Words

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Dear Friends,

 

Minimalism has always held an attraction for me. When I walk into a room that exudes a zen knowing of what enough is, I exhale and sink into peace.  I decided to allow myself to embrace that feeling in my home beyond the furniture, which has always negligible.  I’ve been following various minimalist’s blogs and podcasts for years, like The Minimalists (my favorite!) and Joshua Becker. It was Maria Kondo’s popular book from several years ago, The Art of Tidying, that taught me the process I used to clean out/tidy/declutter my clothes and books. I’m now finishing up my project on paperwork and miscellaneous, sometimes unrecognizable, items. Do you know what happened when I followed her suggestions? An overwhelming sense of joy came over me when I looked at what remained of my books and clothes. I no longer stressed out in the morning when deciding what to wear. Immediately after going through the Kondo process of piling all books on the floor and then deciding one by one what goes back on the shelves, I grabbed a book thinking, “I forgot I had this!” and sat and read it.  In that moment, I understood what The Minimalists mean when they say it’s not about getting rid of things, it’s about raising the things you love to a level of honor and appreciation.

 

This idea of methodically going through different areas of belongings in a certain order, piling them in front of myself, and then deciding what is worth keeping—what brings me joy, what is needed to make my life easier, what I cannot live without, what allows those who enter my world to exhale and sink into their peace—also works when writing a book, article, or a speech.

 

Let those overly descriptive adjectives, those seldom spoken adverbs, those rambling sentences, form a pile at your fingertips. Then walk away for a moment or many moments and when you return, begin asking yourself, “What is necessary here?  What can my audience not live without?  What makes it easier to digest?  What will make them happy they listened?” 

 

We often hang on to things because we fear if we let go we’ll miss a point or won’t be understood.  No one will ever complain you made something too clear!

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Let go of clutter phrases like, “I want to tell you a story,” and just tell it.  Let go of meaningless cliches like, “At the end of the day,” and, “Without further ado.” Let go of words like really, just, very, truly, actually, and see what one word describes what you want to convey: joyful instead of truly happy; gorgeous or stunning instead of very beautiful; allow the word to mean what it means and to be enough. Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” Let go of cramming so much explanation into your writing and speaking you don’t give the audience the space to absorb the key lesson or to have that aha moment when they realize what it means for them. 

 

“Out of clutter, find simplicity.” Albert Einstein’s words are true whether they are referring to your furnishings, your wardrobe, your piles of paper, your relationships, your social media, or your spoken or written words. Like Michelangelo finding David by sculpting away the marble that wasn’t him, when you release the clutter that has been stifling it, you will find your joy so you, too, can exhale and sink into peace.

 

With gratitude,

Amy​

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Amy Ayoub

President, The Zen Speaker