Look around wherever you are, at home or at your office. Let your eyes rest on each item. If you had the choice again today, would you buy each item again? Do you remember the story about each item? Is the item part of your last chapter or the current one?

In another part of my interview with Barbara Winter, we talked about “our stuff.” What it means to us. (For the first part, click here.) Barbara is wrapping up a move of her home and her business. I was curious to know what she had found out about herself with respect to her things. A life event such as moving gives us greater clarity.

Observation from Barbara: Just the way work can expand to fill our time, so can our stuff expand to fill the available space. As she began preparing to move, she saw items in her storage spaces she hadn’t seen in a long time – “out of sight is out of mind” was the expression which came to mind.

So the question she asked was: “If it’s been hidden away and I haven’t missed it – does it get to make the move?”

Watch how your stored away items stay in their resting places. Maybe you don’t need some of them anymore. Barbara used to move more often, so each move was the natural event trigger to winnow down. But it had been awhile this time.

Observation – Barbara keeps the item if it “still has a use in my life” or if it “still has an important story.” When you’re moving onto your next chapter as Barbara is, these are two great questions. What you want is some “no regrets” questions.

Observation – Books were the hardest.  The hardest part for most people in winnowing down is often items with sentimental value or items which are close to your values. With books, it’s often a value of curiosity and/or lifelong learning.  Two values you’ll hear often in Barbara’s online presence.

You know you have the knowledge so do you need to keep the physical book? The key, which you’ll notice Barbara does, is to read, share the gems, and leverage what you’ve learned. Collect for a purpose. Another key is to focus on finding great new homes versus “getting rid of” anything. You loved it once after all.

Observation – Being at peace with yourself in your surroundings is crucial

If you’re self-employed, you have more choices about your office environment than when you worked for someone else, so take advantage of this source of inspiration. Barbara wrote about home offices on her blog and inspired me.

When I looked around my home office, I realized I needed to move upstairs, to more light. This year, it was a repainting and renovating of this office – from paint to rugs to a fabric bulletin board and my vision board – where I can actually see it this year!

Barbara calls her new home and home office her “stop in between adventures.” And she passionately commented that she wants to be a “really outrageous grandmother” this coming year, too!

So between the books, the concept of her “cottage in between adventures” and being a really outrageous grandmother, I can imagine what her new home and office will look like, once she’s all moved in.

So how about it. What would we notice about your home or office if we visited today? Seriously – Do they reflect who you are and what’s important to you?