Dr. Catherine Roster is the research director at the NSGCD, National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. She oversees research projects for the organization and is an Associate Professor at Anderson School of Management, The University of New Mexico. I spoke with Catherine about her research into letting go of possessions.

How did you get involved in this area of work?

When I went into a PhD program I immediately grabbed onto disposition, which is studied least out of the three stages of consumer behavior: acquisition, consumption and disposition. I like to call disposition “dispossession” because what you are letting go of is all of the values and meanings behind possessing something, it could be emotional, control etc. It’s these values and meanings invested in an object, not just physical ownership or control over the object itself, that the person is relinquishing when they get rid of something. 

Can you describe strategies professional organizers use to help clients let go of possessions?

There are a variety of techniques. One that is pertinent to “The Secret Life of Objects” is taking photographs. It may not necessarily be feasible to keep the object but the individual may still want to retain that object and feel connected to it. An efficient way to do that and honor that memory is to simply take a photograph. The person can remember the object by reviewing the photograph.

Two researchers, John Lastovicka and Karen Fernandez, coined the term “iconic transfer.” The reason it’s called iconic transfer is because the photograph essentially becomes a vessel of meaning or icon for the meaning that is transferred from the physical object into something else that becomes a new container or vessel of meaning. I found in the research that we did at NSGCD that organizers use this technique beyond photographs. One example might be if someone is keeping a lot of clothes from a deceased relative that was very close to them, pieces of that fabric could be re-invented in a quilt or some other object that is more easily retained. You could take all the music you have and create a list of all the music; you don’t necessarily have to keep the music.

Other techniques that we discovered organizers are using is storytelling, which is again pertinent to thisproject. There is a catharsis in telling about the object. Rituals can also go along with letting go. In some cases it may be destroying the goods by burning them or throwing them away, especially if there are really bad memories associated with them. Some people who are emotionally attached to objects may have a mock funeral by putting all the objects together and saying their own tribute to the goods. The ceremony allows them to disinvest from the meaning and relinquish as a rite of passage.

Not everyone is emotionally connected with their objects. For some people it’s belief systems – “I’m going to need this.” In cognitive behavioral strategies you can walk people through their reasoning one question at a time to help people unveil the rationality behind those thoughts. 

Who takes the photograph of the object - the personal organizer or the person who is letting go?

Both.

Because it seems like it would be more important for the person who is letting go to take the picture because they enact that the separation and an action takes place.

One thing you have to be careful of is the sympathy that is sometimes prompted by just holding the object. I can see for some individuals that are having a difficult time emotionally that taking the photograph could somehow strengthen that bond so it may be better to have another individual take the photo. 

I guess for some people taking a picture can be a way of separating and distancing and for others it can be a way of connecting. 

I’m sure it can work both ways - it’s individual.

Can you talk about letting go in your own life?

I was drawn to this field personally because my mother seems to have a problem with letting go. My mother grew up during the depression and post-depression. She is very frugal and also has emotional attachments to objects. So I was really fascinated with this topic, although in response to my mother I tend to be more of a trasher or purger. 

Can you tell me about an instance when you let go of something with personal meaning?

After a divorce, I took my wedding ring and literally threw it in the community dumpster in the apartment complex where I lived. To me it just seemed like the relationship was garbage and I was angry and depressed and I just felt like that’s where it belonged. And in keeping with the theme of your project, I also knew that there was a gentleman that came once a week and sorted through this community dumpster for beer bottles and things people didn’t want. So I sort of had this poetic idea that I was going to give him a real find. It was fun doing it.

That moment of throwing your ring into the dumpster must have had a really cathartic effect.

I still remember the clink it made!

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