One of my strengths as a writer — if I do say so myself — is writing endings. I’ve mentioned that I’ve been working on a side-project book, called Outer Order, Inner Calm.

This book will be a collection of all the tips and strategies I’ve gathered over the years, about how to fight clutter – a subject I love.

As I was writing about suggestions like “Follow the one-minute rule,” “Don’t put things down; put them away,” “Go shelf by shelf,” “Observe Power Hour,” “Someplace, keep an empty shelf,” “Don’t stockpile,” I was struck by a tip that seems to me to be the most important of all, and it’s the final suggestion in the book.

“Remember love.”

When your parents are driving you crazy because they’ve kept every piece of your schoolwork, all the way back to kindergarten, or when you’re driving yourself crazy because you can’t bring yourself to toss any of your husband’s ragged college t-shirts, remember: all this junk is an expression of love.