A Cluttered Life: Searching for God, Serenity and My Missing Keys
A Cluttered Life: Searching for God, Serenity and My Missing Keys
Author: Pesi Dinnerstein
Website: http://www.sealpress.com/books.php?author=263
Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW
We\’ve all heard the terms: pack rat, hoarder, clutterer, slob. Everyone knows someone who fits these terms – and no doubt, that is why the A&E TV show Hoarders, is such a trainwreck of a hit. Those who watch it just can\’t get enough.
And besides, who has the nerve to tell the hoarder in their lives that their possessions are getting in the way of their ability to enjoy a happy life? I expect the answer is no one. At least if you want to keep that person if your life!
That\’s why Dinnerstein\’s memoir is both wrenching and “can\’t put downable.” She begins the book by explaining how a chance encounter with a former office mate forces her to face the extent to which mess and disorder have crept into every corner of her existence.
This leads her to a decision, made on the eve of her fiftieth birthday, to launch a mission designed to free herself from the excess baggage she carries. Amazingly, she finds-to her great surprise-that the meaning of life, which she\’s spent years searching for,has actually been there all along, hidden amongst her personal piles of clutter.
“With the help of devoted friends, a twelve-step recovery program, and a bit of Kabbalistic wisdom, her struggle against chaos is transformed from a distraction into its own journey of healing and personal growth.
The book is insightful at times. Also unsettling. Always funny. And definitely not an instruction manual on how to get rid of clutter. You\’ll enjoy it. And what more could you ask from one woman\’s very personal story of how she found her true self — and spiritual fulfillment – in the process of trying to make sense of her own muddled world?
