Living Clutter Free Forever - decluttering tips,home organizing, minimalist living

 Why being blind makes a decluttered home essential (and the strategies needed to stay organized) #132

• Caroline Thor - Professional Organizer - KonMari® Consultant

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Imagine navigating the ups and downs of organizing without sight—how would you arrange your life and maintain harmony amidst chaos? Walt, a blind father with retinitis pigmentosa, shares his remarkable journey and the unique strategies he uses to manage his household with his wife and their two young children, including one on the autism spectrum. Through humor and warmth, Walt offers insights into the universal challenges of parenting, from the chaos of noisy kids and pets to maintaining order in a busy home. His story is not just about adapting to blindness but also about the creative solutions that bring balance and structure to family life.
 
 Our conversation goes beyond personal anecdotes, diving into the world of minimalism and organization. Walt explains his method of using tactile indicators and technology to manage his spaces. We also explore the importance of mental maps and spatial awareness, especially during his family's upcoming move from Phoenix to Colorado. Discover how involving children in organizing their spaces can be both a joy and a challenge, and hear Walt's reflections on encouraging his autistic child's love for music while maintaining household order. Whether you're a parent, a minimalist, or someone simply seeking inspiration, this episode promises valuable takeaways for everyone

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Speaker 1:

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality. Hello and welcome back to the Living Clutter-Free Forever podcast. I am Caroline and I am a KonMari consultant and professional organizer, and I have the best episode for you today.

Speaker 1:

I am so excited to bring you a conversation that I had about a month ago now with a guy called Walt from the US who is blind, and I'd been talking a while ago to a friend of mine, marissa Hamamoto, who is a disability inclusion changemaker, dancer. Hamamoto, who is a disability inclusion changemaker, dancer, speaker, spinal stroke survivor and is also autistic, and she has the most amazing dance company for people with disabilities, and she was mentioning that one of her dancers is blind and that they need to make sure when they enter a new space that her stuff always goes to the same place so that she can find it. And it got me wondering about how you organize your space when you can't see, and I asked her if she'd be able to ask the dancer if she would have a chat with me about it, and she was unfortunately unavailable. But Marissa knew someone else, walt, who is also blind and who was happy to talk to me. So I know you are going to love this episode.

Speaker 1:

Whether you are sighted, whether you're blind, whether you have a different disability, there are lots of takeaways that will help you, whatever your situation, with decluttering and organizing. I hope you enjoy. Hello and welcome today to Walt. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for having me Appreciate it, Caroline.

Speaker 1:

You're very, very welcome. I have been really looking forward to this conversation. I think it's going to be absolutely fascinating. But before we dive into all the juicy stuff, could you start by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your background and about your family life?

Speaker 2:

Sure, my name is Walt. I am a blind individual. I lost my sight from a degenerative retinal condition called retinitis pigmentosa Don't try saying that 10 times because it's a lot, but basically it's a name given to a group of inherited retinal diseases and I started losing my sight at the age of 15. By the age of 35, I lost all my functional vision other than light perception. So there was definitely some adjustments, some psychosocial adjustment and things I had to kind of wrap my mind around going through that journey.

Speaker 2:

I do have my loving wife, jennifer, whom we're coming up on 10 years of marriage, and we have two beautiful kids we have. I have a 7-year-old son who's autistic. He's a beautiful boy, super smart and my daughter, who's three years old and she's going on four in February, also just super, super bright and raising a lot of hell right now. Raising a lot of hell right now, but uh, um, very exciting. You know, we definitely have um two, you know, two children, two dogs, two cats. So I call it the uh, uh noah's ark of the desert minus the water.

Speaker 1:

I love that and we actually have a lot more in common than I actually realized what? Because my son also has autism and we have two dogs and two cats, but we also have two rabbits, so my arc's getting a little bit fuller than yours already.

Speaker 2:

I love it.

Speaker 1:

So that's really cool. Thank you for sharing your backstory about your site. That is like really interesting to know how it progressed with you, and that must have been devastating as a 15 year old to know that you were potentially eventually going to lose your sight.

Speaker 2:

I got to say at 15, I didn't really think much of it, other than I couldn't really see well in the dark. By 17, I got the diagnosis but still, when you're a teenager, you're still not comprehending I mean, certainly for me I wasn't comprehending just the implications of this going into the future. Future, I was just told that I should have vision into my 60s and 70s. But what they didn't anticipate is my particular variant of rp was more aggressive than they anticipated, and so what I wasn't anticipating was they did the aggressiveness, the rapidity by which the vision was lost and that I wasn't prepared for.

Speaker 1:

So what are some of the biggest challenges that you face now when it comes to sort of home organization and managing day-to-day life as a non-sighted parent?

Speaker 2:

It's a really good question. I will say you know, obviously when you're dealing with two young children, there's just constant, constant clutter. And so you know it's my wife does what she can to save off the clutter and I do what I can as well. But you know, in the foot space there's invariably going to be things that you step on, and you know it could be wooden blocks, it could be Legos. You know dogs, cats, the dogs they're kind of unsettled by a little bit of the chaos. You know, my son is sound sensitive, so you know it's dealing with my three-year-old who's squawking, making a lot of noise, making a lot of sounds, and that sets him off, and so there's a lot of destabilization in the environment as it is, and so there's a lot of clutter, a lot of noise. So, as a blind parent, you're trying to manage the clutter as well as the sound sources that are coming at you as well as the the sound sources that are coming at you, as well as the uh, you know some of the, you know, pet related issues.

Speaker 2:

You know the dogs kind of moving around. So it's basically trying to communicate, having an open dialogue with my wife and just working with her, and have that partnership where we try to come up with a strategy to keep things off the floor. As I, you know, travel throughout the house, it's very important to me to have an open floor plan.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Um, to really to really be able to manage the, uh, the foot space, to put travel space.

Speaker 1:

And that with young kids is really challenging because they just pick up stuff and drop it here, there and everywhere as they go go. They don't necessarily have this innate thing that we need to take it back to where it came from.

Speaker 2:

And it's so true yeah, I mean like my, uh, my kids. They're like the johnny apple seed of food. You know, they just dump things all over. I don't know if that's the right analogy, but they just dump things all over the place like cheeses and, uh, books. You know, my wife will put something away, my daughter will take it right back out and just dump it on the floor. It's like a yeah book strewn all over the place.

Speaker 1:

So it's a game when you're three, isn't it? I mean think that things are on shelves to be got down and put somewhere else and then taken out of boxes and put somewhere else, so they don't need toys. You can just give them stuff and boxes to put things in and out of, and they'll be quite happy oh yeah 100 and those legos hurt when you tread on them. They really hurt. So I mean I just can't even imagine not not not being aware that it's going to be there. That must be very painful.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know those Legos. I loved them as a kid and I used to play with Legos and now they impale my foot when I step on them. So I mean it's kind of an ongoing relationship I have with Legos.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, not in a very good way. I can imagine. It's really great to hear that you and your wife are sort of working as a team, that you're talking to, create strategies and trying to ensure that the floor plan is sort of clear for you so that, as you say, you've got like a path through your home. So how do you, or how have you between you, set things up so that you can easily and reliably find everything that you need? Do you just sort of always have one place that everything goes back to, so you know that's where it will be when you need it, or how does it work?

Speaker 2:

It's a good question.

Speaker 2:

I mean one thing I will say to your listeners and for people who are friends, family members of those who are blind, what's really imperative is you don't move anything without at least conferring with the person.

Speaker 2:

My wife is very, you know, she's very understanding and empathetic about that because she knows that if there's something that's moved, whether it's from the kitchen counter or my desk or on the side tables, if I put it there and it's moved, then it throws me off because I don't know where. You know, obviously I don't have those visual cues to know where they were moved to. I've had instances where family members and well-meaning family members and friends would move stuff and it would kind of frustrate me because I don't think they understood exactly the fallout of doing that, because if I have things in a particular space, they're there for a reason, typically Sometimes not Sometimes they're for you, but I generally mentally know where things are and if they're moved again, I don't have that visual cue to know where they've been moved to. So it's it's very important to have those things not moved. Unless again, you're you, you talk directly with the, with the blind friend or family member.

Speaker 1:

You know, yeah, and actually it's interesting that that really is the most important thing, and I anticipated before our conversation that that would be. But this is something that I'm always saying to my clients and to people that listen to this podcast is, if we know where things go back to, then we always know where to find them again. And for you that literally is like really important, because otherwise you wouldn't be able to find it, but it also for just anybody to know where something is, so that you're not wasting your time searching for it, you don't feel this anxious building up in the pit of your stomach when you can't find that important thing directly when you need it and you need to leave the house quickly. Um, it's just so, so important. So, um, I can well imagine that for you it's like a hundred times more important it is.

Speaker 2:

It is. I mean, and I'm like anyone else. I mean sometimes I forget where I put the keys, you know, um, or my sunglasses. Sometimes I put them somewhere and I forget. And sometimes I do need sighted assistance to help me retrieve those things. My wife, god bless her. I don't know how she puts up with it sometimes, you know she has an unending well of understanding and patience. I don't know how she does it, but she just she's always there for me. You know, if I need help Because there are hassle factors with blindness that you're, or with any disability.

Speaker 2:

That and especially blindness, you know being we're talking about blindness is that it's a nuisance, really, you know, because if you don't know where things are, you know you constantly bump into things. If you're not, you know, using good travel technique, or you don't have your cane on you. If you constantly bump into things, if you're not, you know, using good travel technique, or you don't have your cane on you, if you walk in your house, you know it could be um again, where getting, where you put your headset, or I try to keep those things that like it, like my workstation, a very strategic location, like my headset goes to the right, my shaver goes to the left, you know, and then, uh, so I, I try to keep, I know my workspace, I, uh, so I, I try to keep, I know my workspace, I keep it very lean and I, I, I generally keep what I actually need, what I functionally need on my workspace. Only, um, I don't try to have a. I don't have a lot of knickknacks and things like that.

Speaker 2:

Picture frames, you know, those are things that for me, I, I, I could knock down with my hand without knowing it, or I know it when I do it. But pictures, things like that, those aren't really helpful for me. So, having a lot of knickknacks on the desk, not very useful, I can't see them. I know others can, but it's not functional for me.

Speaker 2:

So, again just trying to keep things lean, but it's not functional for me. So again just trying to keep things lean. If it's a workspace, it really helps, because it kind of keeps me just more mentally and functionally organized.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I can well imagine and calmer as well. So you're actually being a minimalist, a self-imposed minimalist.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, it is so true. I mean it sometimes works out that way. I've just found that, yeah, being a minimalist in certainly my workspace and most spaces, quite honestly, I just find it works for me. There's one thing that really causes me some angst is when there's a lot of clutter. Really causes me some angst is is when there's a lot of clutter. I will say, if there's a lot of clutter on our side tables in the living room, that that just, I don't know it, it could be the fact that I have ocd and and that maybe I'm a little bit um, but then again there are folks with ocd who are way more neat than I am. I'm like probably the messiest, uh person with ocCD ever, so, which is kind of a paradox. But yeah, minimalist in my workstation, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that totally makes sense and I'm interested to know. So when, for example, I help someone organize their kitchen, I put labels on containers. Or if I'm organizing kids' containers or if I'm organizing kids' toys, I put labels so that people know where things go back to. Do you have, for example, braille labels or things in the kitchen? How do you know what is in what container?

Speaker 2:

if you're wanting to use something in the kitchen. Yeah, it's a good question. Unfortunately, I'm not a proficient Braille user. Someone in the blind community would consider me a bad blind boy by not really learning Braille. But Braille is very, very useful. But for me, I use a lot of tactile indicators, being able to feel the shapes of jars. I know where they're located. The shapes of jars I know where they're located. If it's a vat of pea protein, I know where it's located. There are things that ultimately, I know where they are at all times because my wife again, she doesn't move them, she keeps them in one spot. I also know there are folks who are blind, who also have peripheral neuropathy or who may have some sort of neuropropathy, and I want to be sensitive to that too, because and that's why you have so many great pieces of technology out there you have barcode readers.

Speaker 2:

You have certain apps that can help you If you activate them. There are ways you can access the contents of these labels. But again, I just know what for me, I know how things feel and what's in those things and it just works for me.

Speaker 1:

So do you have? I mean, you've just mentioned apps and I would imagine that, with AI and new technology coming out, there have been developments in even in the last couple of years that are starting to make a difference within the blind community. But do you have any particular routines that you have developed or that you've learned from someone else that help you quickly identify and access things in busy areas? So, for example, like if you, if you're in the kids room which I imagine can get quite chaotic or in the living room, do you have any particular routines other than everything having a place to go back to?

Speaker 2:

It's a good question. I never really thought it's funny. You don't think about it a lot because you just kind of you implement things that you don't even. You're not even cognizant that you implement um certain strategies or certain techniques. I will say that I'll be the first to admit that if, if, if, there was a rehabilitation teacher a blind rehabilitation teacher that saw the way I do things, they would probably their jaws would be agape and they'd probably be in horror. They'd be horrified and see how I do things.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, when I go into a space I use my hands a lot just to kind of get a quick feel. If it's a doorframe, I walk in. Again, I just have a mental map of things in my house. For me it's important that I have that mental map for you know, and and that's going to be challenged a bit, because we'll be moving to Colorado in the next few weeks from Phoenix and we'll be going into a new house, new layout, and I'm sure there will be a great deal of pain points and acclimating to a new house and new layout.

Speaker 2:

So the biggest part, of biggest part for me is really I walk into a room and just I will try to build a mental map of that room. It's really important for me From a visual, spatial standpoint. I got to say I'm pretty solid in that area so I can kind of, I have a real, real sense of um, spatial awareness, and I know there are other folks that may not have that Um, so I'm fortunate to have that. So when I walk in a room, I do, you know, reach around, I touch the walls, I, you know, I I touch, uh, If there are pieces of furniture, I'll feel around for those things. I just kind of try to get that mental map. I'm not sure if I'm making sense in that regard, but it's something I, for me, it's very important.

Speaker 1:

No, I think that does make sense. I can imagine that you know, you sort of learn okay, this is where this is, this is where this is. Okay, this is where this is, this is where this is, and I walk in and I know I've got. However many steps, even though it'll just be subconscious, because it's automatic now, because it's your space and, as you say, when you move, that will be interesting because it's going to take you a while, I guess, to adjust to the new layout and where things are and the kids are going to have different places for things. Are you involving your kids in putting things away and helping with tidying up, or are they still a little bit? I mean, you're a three-year-old, perhaps a little bit young, but your son, is he interested in having a say in where his things go?

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah, yeah, you know, as an autistic kid he likes to you know sort things. So yeah, he has a very he's very particular about where, where some things go.

Speaker 2:

Yeah to stop this because he was kind of a little rough on some of my guitars. But he would go into my guitar room where I have things laid out in a certain way. He would organize my guitars, he would lay them out, he would organize the cases and they had to be in a certain way and if I disrupted that then he would get you know, dysregulated.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So, um, and it's not just that, it was, it's other things sometimes he'll sort, uh, he'll sort food where he'll sort his toys, he'll line things up. My wife will sometimes, you know, encourage him to take something and you know, put it, you know put it away in its original spot, and he's, he's very bright, he's very receptive to that and he and he, he does it, you know. But uh, my daughter, yeah, my daughter's kind of um, I don't think she's there yet she will be at some point, but but she's, yeah, she's we call her the um heliona.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she's like that's what I call her anyway. No, I love her, she.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, she's raising hell right now yeah, but it's that, it's that age, isn't it and it's, it's a great age oh yeah but I can imagine I mean my son as well loved when he was more, when he was younger, when he was around your son's age, things being a certain way and organizing things. That then causes issues for you. If you go around your son's age, things being a certain way and organizing things, that then causes issues for you. If you go into your guitar room and things are not how you left them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's, uh, it's a big problem. Yeah, and I put a stop to it just because, like I would walk into my room where I keep my acoustics and my electrics and he would just have the acoustics by. He would have my martin d15 just kind of standing on its own and I wouldn't see it and I would walk in and knock it over not good and no, no, but he, he, he would be insistent on freestanding.

Speaker 2:

So my, my guitars, and you know, and then I'd walk in and not see them, I'd knock them over and I some got even. There are a few that sustained some damage and I had to get them repaired and I had to, you know, put a stop to that. I don't want to I mean he's it.

Speaker 2:

I'm glad he was interested. He took an interest in the, in the music and in the instruments and I. But I have to make sure I'm there to kind of um to watch things. Yeah, I want to encourage that, I want to nurture that. But I there was an old mandolin my parents gave me, I we gave him that and he seems to like it and he's he's basically busting that up right now. So Brilliant.

Speaker 1:

Well, maybe, maybe that's what he needs for Christmas his own guitar, and then then he can have his in his room and you've got yours in your room and all is good with the world. So, just to finish off then, is there any particular advice you would have for other parents, or even just adults, who face a unique challenge when it comes to creating and maintaining reliable organization systems? I think the thing that I can really take away from today is everything needs its place to go back to and should not be moved, but is there any other advice that you would give?

Speaker 2:

You know there are some folks who are like myself kind of, who were adventitiously blind. They lost their sight later. And there's some that were congenitally blind. They lost their sight from. You know they were blind from birth and you know, I think those experiences are different.

Speaker 2:

If I were to give advice to a parent who is blind, I think if you have something that works for you, I would say, stick to it. I would also recommend if you had access to a rehabilitation teacher who can help you sort things, or maybe there are some best practices. I mean, I'm always learning, maybe going online, reading those articles or even bringing someone in who can help you or someone like yourself who can sort things. There's always an opportunity to be better. You know, for me I'm no exception. And also, just have grace for yourself, even though you find that you get frustrated. I think it's common to get frustrated, to get just a little flustered, and I just try to take a breath, step away and then re-approach. I would say just have grace for yourself, with yourself, and therefore you'll have grace and patience with others. It's got to start with yourself and therefore you'll have grace and patience with others.

Speaker 1:

It's got to start with yourself. I love that, walt. That is such amazing advice for anybody. That is beautiful, thank you.

Speaker 2:

No problem. I mean not very tactical, but I think everybody has their own strategies and it's always being flexible to try different things. You know, I'm always open to trying different ways of organizing and I don't purport to ever have the market cornered on that. But if you find something that works for you, just stick with it and just, you know, be patient with yourself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, beautiful, thank you. Well, I wish you and your family all the best for the move, and it's amazing, you've even found the time, amongst all of that, to speak to me today. So I'm very, very grateful and thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Oh, thank you, I'm honored that you thought enough of me to bring me on your podcast. And again, thank you for your time and for your you know, just for your conversation. Thank you for your time and for your you know, just for your conversation.

Speaker 1:

You're very welcome. Well, there you have it. I hope you were inspired by that. I certainly am. I can't get over as well how many similarities there are between Walt and I, with us both having autistic children, with us both having music as a background passion, and I think it's really interesting that one of the big takeaways from this episode is how important it is that everything has a place to go back to, and that applies whether you are sighted, whether you're blind. It is so important to make your life easier that everything has a place to go back to, and this is where the KonMari method is so key, because everything is organized by category and has a home where it goes back to. So really try and take that on board, because I promise you it's a game changer.

Speaker 1:

I mentioned that we had been connected through Marissa. You can check out Marissa at Infinite Flow Dance on Instagram. I'll put the link in the show notes. I highly recommend you check out her Instagram page. It is totally inspiring and maybe something that you are interested in finding out more about.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you are someone who is struggling with your space, one thing that would really really help you is to declutter, because when we have too much stuff. It just makes it very hard to keep on top of keeping things tidy, and Walt talked about the fact that he's really quite minimalist. So I can help you here because we're all short on time and I have an amazing free resource that you can grab my 15-minute declutter kickstart. The link is in the show notes. Grab it and it will get you started in a few little key areas of your home.

Speaker 1:

Now I have also recorded an interview with a KonMari consultant who is blind, and I had initially planned to put that in with this episode, but there was just so much amazing, great content in both that I decided to split it into two episodes. So that chat will be coming in January. You will not want to miss it. A massive thank you once again to Walt for giving me so much time and insight. I really appreciate it. And for the rest of you, until next time, if you've enjoyed this episode, please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it, subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organizing tips next time, but if you can't wait until then, you can go to my website or find me on Instagram, at carothor, or on Facebook at Caroline Organizer. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter-free ever after.