Simple Approach : Spring cleaning is an attitude, and it can be applied to all aspects of life.

There’s something about daffodils pushing through soil that stirs up a desire to fling open the windows, brush away cobwebs and clear out clutter. Somewhere in the country, storm windows are coming down about now; but in Southern California, where seasons blend almost seamlessly into each other, spring and spring cleaning aren’t necessarily synonymous. Still, the urge to clean up and simplify surroundings is universal, whether it’s your house or your life. So where to start?

According to Janet Luhrs, author of “The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living” (Broadway Books, New York, 1997), the easiest place to begin is with your possessions, since that is where the typical American is raised to find gratification. Who hasn’t felt a rush rummaging through hidden junk collections and clearing out the creeping fungus of clutter? If it sounds daunting, tackle it in small steps, drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf.

“Get rid of those things you don’t use, love or care about and you’ll realize how much time, money and effort you spend fooling with junk. Psychic energy is drained when you have all that stuff,” Luhrs says.

Although Luhrs is a longtime advocate of living under her means, her life became more complicated with a law degree, marriage, children and a mortgage. A class on simplicity in 1991 started her on the quest for a simpler life.

“It was like I came out of the simplicity closet,” Luhrs says. Researching the subject, she combined information, personal experience and a journalism background into a quarterly newsletter, “Simple Living.” The Boston Globe called it “the nation’s premier newsletter on voluntary simplicity.”

Since possessions do tend to possess us, freedom from ownership is one way to create space for that inward journey toward contentment. From a global perspective, it’s not only worth the effort but essential for the environment, according to Virgil Nelson, former executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Ventura County. He notes that the United States and Canada combine 6% of the world’s population while consuming more than 46% of the world’s energy in nonrenewable resources.

“Our whole culture needs a spring cleaning,” Nelson says, laughing.

Coordinator of Church Relations and Oxnard Outreach at Project Understanding as well as interim pastor of a small church in Santa Paula, he and his wife, Lynn, never adopted the lavish lifestyle their children might have preferred while growing up. They have a wood-burning stove, a solar heating system and a ‘60s-vintage VW. From time to time they have shared appliances, lawn mowers and cooperative gardens with friends and neighbors.

“Several families in our neighborhood share a common tool shed, knowing it’s acceptable to go in and borrow as long as it gets returned,” Nelson says.

He and Lynn come from Depression-era parents--his father yanked nails out of boards to hammer straight and reuse--and were born to recycle. But their chosen way of life goes beyond frugality.

“We are living simply so that others may simply live,” Nelson says, adding that the phrase is not his, but captures both a lifestyle and motivation that transcend theology. Although it sounds easy, it’s actually complex if you have to deal with the logistics of one car in a family with differing schedules, for example.

“Commitment to simplicity clearly does bring peace, but it may not bring what many people consider to be ease,” he says.

Obviously, it’s easier to clean up and pare down where there’s not much to “de-junk,” a term that Don Aslett coined in “Clutter’s Last Stand” (Writer’s Digest Books, 1984). Identified as the world’s No. 1 cleaning expert, he owns a commercial cleaning organization, a cleaning center, cleaning library and cleaning museum. He’s in the process of building a maintenance-free house in Hawaii, and you can be sure it will be clutter-free.

“Clutter is the No. 1 housework problem. It takes 40% longer to clean a clutter-filled house,” Aslett says.

Globally speaking, he believes clutter is at the root of every problem, because it creates an attitude problem. Furthermore, people treat you according to your cleanliness level, which is the main reason people clean anyway, he concludes. So de-junk your life and everyone will feel better.

You might consider starting with your vacation souvenirs--the gift-shop arrowheads or those cute porcelain hearts that tugged at your purse strings. Aslett calls these items garbage maintained by people who call them collections.

“Throw out what you grow out of,” he says.

Living out his convictions, Aslett travels light, delivering his gospel of clean and simple throughout the country at home shows and school auditoriums and on Oprah and the Discovery Channel. He has one pair of dress shoes, never owned a sports coat, pager, cell phone or personal fax machine. He hates call-waiting, mimicking a phone conversation: “Just a minute, I have to see if someone more important is on the other line.” Although he does have state-of-the-art equipment for his employees, he creates his own voluminous output on a manual typewriter.

“I get instant hard copy that way,” he says.

Aslett says simple living has allowed him the time to accomplish so much professionally, while raising six children and enjoying a slew of grandchildren with his wife of 41 years. His theories and opinions liven up any seminar, lecture or even a phone interview. His bottom line is: “Life is just learning to control what you intake and not have to fight it.”

According to Sherman Oaks clinical psychologist Lila Gruzen, letting go isn’t that simple. She noted that 10% of the population suffers from cluttering to an extent that it affects daily life.

“People who are clutterers can’t throw things out,” she says. “And they attach meaning to stuff that doesn’t have it. I want to spread the word that this is not a character defect, it is a problem. You know how depressing it is to be up to your eyeballs in papers.”

Now that it’s clearly established that possessions are distracting time-consumers, what about human clutter? Is de-junking an option when it comes to relationships? This doesn’t mean friendships sealed in blood and tested by divorce, earthquakes and the IRS but those casual acquaintances you pick up while serving on some committee, at a club or in an organization. Luhrs suggests you ask yourself what you’re doing with them.

“Obligation friendships that may have worked two years ago, but not anymore, are a horrible drain on time and energy, so cut them out. They add psychic clutter if they’re not fulfilling you in some way. Everyone will be happier, as long as you’re not hurting anyone, and you don’t trash people in the process,” Luhrs says.

She makes a clear distinction between casual friendships and deeper ones worth working on. If it’s rewarding, put your energies there, she advises.

Nelson agrees that you need to identify those people you truly want to spend time with, rather than passively respond to invitations and requests as they come along.

“We’ve tried in the last five years to consciously say, ‘These are folks we really want to nurture the relationship with’ and then take the initiative,” Nelson says, admitting it’s a struggle.

Aslett doesn’t mince words, referring to time-wasters as junk people. Those are the people in your life who you just hate to see coming, even if they’re nice, and you’re not happy until you see their taillights. He has remedies he calls the ABCs of Escape in “Clutter’s Last Stand,” but for the truly desperate, he recommends making yourself utterly repulsive. Eat raw onions, smear horse manure on your shoes, serve food they hate. You can also cram your schedule so tight they can’t get to you.

“When you’re hanging around, you’re an open invitation for others to hang onto you,” he says.

You might begin to wonder if being left with space in your home and blank squares on your calendar is really what you want. If you think not, go ahead and let down the drawbridge. Invite everyone back on board, yank back those dogeared books and magazines you dumped on your friends, and clutter away.

On the other hand, you can think of the newfound space as time for yourself. Try meditation or workshops that open you up in some way. Take a solitary walk on the beach, read an inspirational book, fill your home with the sounds of your favorite music. You might enjoy just being alone and quiet. Silence might be scary at first, especially without the TV or radio guiding your mind. Journal your way through the silence by writing your thoughts and feelings. It’s a great way to peek through the cobwebs.

When Luhrs first became involved in the voluntary simplicity movement, she thought it would be difficult to live simply in Seattle. Taking a cue from Thoreau, she learned to savor whatever she did and do it in a deliberate manner, not as if on automatic pilot going from one thing to another or several things at once.

Nelson took a giant step toward simplification by demoting himself out of his position as executive director of Habitat. Under his six-year leadership, the organization had grown from a $12,900 budget to a $410,000 budget and 12 subcommittees, operating in nine of the 11 cities in Ventura County. Nelson recognized he needed a break for more self-care.

As for Aslett, he wrote his latest book, “How to Handle 1,000 Things at Once” (Marsh Creek Press, Idaho 1997), to help liberate people from circumstances and habit. He says he now does practically everything quicker and easier, and teaches his methods to others.

All this proves there’s more than one way to fling open the windows of spring and adopt the simple life.

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BE THERE

Clutterer’s Anonymous meets each Wednesday from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Simi Valley Presbyterian Church, Room 210. 4832 Cochran, Simi Valley (805) 583-5011.

For information on other Clutterer’s Anonymous meetings, write to P.O. Box 25884, Santa Ana, CA 92799.

Clinical psychologist Lila Gruzen will conduct a seminar, “Letting Go of Clutter: One Drawer at a Time,” June 3 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pierce College (Extension), 6201 Winnetka Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818) 719-6425. Gruzen also sees private patients at 13949 Ventura Blvd., Suite 210, Sherman Oaks, (818) 990-7447.

Debtors Anonymous meets to discuss working on uncluttering each Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 17620 Sherman Way, Suite 207, Van Nuys, (818) 906-1653. The Debtors Anonymous 24-hour hotline is (310) 855 8752.

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Tips for Simplicity

Luhrs’ tips on simplifying life:

Shop with a conscience.

Cut up all your credit cards but one.

Eat lower on the food chain.

Enjoy simple pleasures.

Take 10 minutes a day for reflection.

Say no to constant activity and yes to giving of yourself.

For more on the Simplicity Movement: Voluntary Simplicity Hotline: (206) 464-4800; Simple Living Network: (800) 318-5725.

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Tips for Getting

the Clutter Out

Aslett’s four-box sorting system:

JUNK: Obvious trash--dump it.

CHARITY: Good and useful--pass it along to others.

SORT: You still want or need it--put it somewhere.

EMOTIONAL WITHDRAWAL: Can’t part with it? Seal it away for six months.

Don Aslett can be reached through the Cleaning Center: (208) 232-6212.