[New] Free Yourself From Clutter

An Open Discussion and Coaching Session on Decluttering

By Cameron Healy

It’s time for an open conversation about letting go of the physical and mental clutter that is holding you back. Michelle Passoff travels to help adults 55 years and older identify and let go of the unnecessary excess in their lives through open discussion. She is holding several sessions in the Tampa Bay area.

Passoff is the author of LIGHTEN UP! Free Yourself From Clutter, a book about “freeing yourself from too much stuff as a path of enlightenment.” She wrote this book after having an epiphany while helping a friend clean out their apartment due to an eviction. She later published the book in 1998.

“If you straighten things out in one domain – physical – it could straighten out in mental, emotional, spiritual [domains],” Passoff said. “I actually saw a physical cleaning of clutter as a pathway and a clear direction to where you want to head in your life.”

Passoff started leading her roundtable discussions and coaching sessions in October of 2022. She went to Mexico to visit her friend who scheduled her first roundtable session. After the success of her first open discussion, she has held many in-person and online roundtable discussion groups with people around the US, UK, and Australia.

What she’s seen from these roundtables are small groups of around 10 people allowing themselves to open up about the complexity of their clutter and how they can begin simplifying, while also being supportive of the other people’s clutter. It’s a very interactive experience that starts with stepping outside of your own comfort zone and allowing vulnerability to take place, she says.

There is no end to clutter, but what you do to maintain the clutter is what matters. What’s your clutter?

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about because everybody has it,” Passoff explained. “To have clutter is to be human.”

Clutter, Passoff says, can vary from the physical items to the men- tal weight someone might carry. This event intends to help participants organize their clutter with ease, whether it’s emptying out old closets, eating and exercising in a healthy way, or integrating time for lost or new passions in life.

Passoff says that the point to her discussions for adults 55 and older is to help them learn to live their later years with ease.

“There’s a lot of things that need to be addressed over the age of 55 that you’d rather crawl under the covers or go golfing,” Passoff said.

Passoff understands that there is no end to clutter, but there is a way you can handle your clutter that won’t overwhelm you.

She plans to hold discussions in St. Petersburg, Gulfport, and Safety Harbor for the next month. Join her at the Gulfport Senior Center on Jan. 24 from 1-3 p.m. to learn how to get rid of your excess baggage.

Gulfport Senior Center, 5501 27th Ave. S. 727-893-5657