Embraceliving

There was an interesting study done not long ago of the ratio between the number of decorative objects a person had and the number and quality of her personal connections to other people. In other word who would have more friends: the Spartan type had few decorative objects and toys around and e fewer that she really prized or the free spirit living pounds of clutter? The people with the fewest object the fewest knickknacks, toys, artworks, and collection maintained that they prized people
not things. They were not materialist, they said, and that’s why they didn’t like a lot of junk around. However, the study found that the cluttered souls, up
to their necks in bric-a-brac, had many more friends, more family connections, and more active social and civic ties than the other group.
This is good news for mother, of course, and it confirms one of our favorite secret beliefs—that mother are nicer than other people. But it’s really true in my professional experience that the potential clients who had the most clutter were the easiest to work with, provided that they liked the clutter. One of the tests my associate and I use on our initial interview at the client’s home to determine if we want to take the job is to ask, “What object in this room is your favorite?” If the person is hard put to identify anything as her favorite or to show any love at all for anything she has, we always decline the job. We always suspect a person who says, “Oh, I don’t really like any of it,” will be a difficult client.

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