I looked around the office -- desk scattered with books, notes, papers, half-written articles and stories; around the computer, a clutter of pens and pencils, diskettes, photos, gadgets and numerous other distractions. Above the desk, two wall-length rows of bookshelves were filled, and there were even more filled shelves behind me. No more room on the shelves had created a Stonehenge-like pattern of stacked books around the floor. Some stacks were nearly knee high. Chaos and clutter reigned supreme.

I sighed. For the last few months, I've been tackling each room in my house, trying to both organize and lighten up. Bags full of old clothes and household items have been donated, boxes of books and literary journals given away. Still, a lot of "stuff" remained. I wanted to be like my friend. I wanted to find the real trick of learning to live with less.

In the introduction to her book Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach quotes Margaret Young: "Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."

How does this work? I read the words over and again. While they made sense on an intuitive level, how does one actually be who you really are? Especially in the midst of all this -- stuff? How does one find simplicity within all the clutter?

I wish I had an answer. Like so many of us, I want the quick fix. I want my house of thoughts and things to be neatly ordered. And yet I know this will never come to pass.

What Sarah Ban Breathnach found as she wrote her book about trying to eliminate clutter from her life was that a deeper search ensued. What began as a search to simplify became a quest for authenticity. She began asking the deeper questions we all ask ourselves once the clutter dies away, and what she found was that the true touchstone to order is the quiet center within.