Stuff or ‘Clutter’?

Most of us understand what “clutter” (the noun) is. Here’s the way I define it:
“Objects in a space that, as they accumulate, lose their labels as individual items, and become part of one mass. Another way to say that is they become unused objects stored in inappropriate places.”
For example, a stack of magazines is not clutter. (There may be too many of them, but that’s another issue.) A collection of antique paperweights on a table is not clutter. A stack of mail is not clutter.

The morning paper is not clutter. A cereal bowl with a spoon is not clutter. A crossword puzzle half finished with a pen on top is not clutter. BUT, a cereal bowl resting on top of the LA Times that covers a week of mail weighed down by two of six paperweights (the other four are on top of the pile of magazines with the puzzle and pen resting on top) on one small coffee table and voila!: a clump of clutter.

So easy to get there. Gravity, time, and moon spots contribute to this strange phenomena. Poor you if you don’t have a compulsion gene in the area of neatness and tidiness. On the other hand, isn’t it easier to just have someone else do it?