An Interview With Drew Gerber
Step back and isolate yourself each day to relearn how to listen to the inspiration within and reconnect with the Living One who loves humanity.
We live in a time of great excess. We have access to fast fashion, fast food, and fast everything. But studies show that all of our “stuff” is not making us any happier. How can we simplify and focus on what’s important? How can we let go of all the clutter and excess and find true happiness? In this interview series, we are talking to coaches, mental health experts, and authors who share insights, stories, and personal anecdotes about “How Simplifying and Decluttering Your Life Can Make Us Happier.” As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Claire Nottale.
Claire Nottale has done scientific research in medicine with health professionals. While pursuing her studies in the field of health care, particularly in mental health, she has been working as an independent translator in Strasbourg as for over 10 years. She is married and has 3 teenagers.
While translating in the medical field, which fascinates me, I worked for several years as a wellness and health consultant. I also conducted studies in mental health with doctors and professionals. I have been accompanying patients for years while doing research to improve their living conditions.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us? What was it that led you to your eventual career choice?
I have been through some very difficult times and have come a long way to recovery. I was supposed to be a competitive sportsman but a serious accident prevented me from continuing, and I turned to translation. But everything I had been through motivated me to work in the field of health and well-being to help others out of their difficulties. Strangely enough, my career as a translator was a way to work in the field and to deepen my knowledge.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I don’t have a specific story but I am extremely touched because, during my career, I have met by chance people of great human value who have inspired and guided me.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am writing about how I was cured of depression. We are in a world where everything pushes us to possess. Not to mention the personal difficulties of each individual which can be enormous, this consumer society detaches us from our center and the core values that could help us to be stable and positive. I think that my experience of depression is a very common ailment in our society and I hope that this testimony can give some hints and help some of my peers.
Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the topic of “How Simplifying and Decluttering Your Life Can Make You Happier”?
I do not pretend to be an authority on the subject, but my life is simple and I am happy.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. We live in a time of excess. We have access to so much. But studies show that all of our “stuff” is not making us any happier. Can you articulate for our readers a few reasons why all of our possessions are not giving us happiness?
1. Our addiction isolates us from our environment and our friends, makes us deaf and blind to their needs and demands, and therefore we become more and more lonely ourselves.
2. It makes us slaves to our passions, to internet games, to networks, to the emulation of having the most likes or the most relationships, and this slavery deprives us of the inner freedom to do the important things by which we could contribute to the improvement of humanity.
For this, it is necessary to have a calm environment and above all to free ourselves from all attachments in order to hear what the inner voice suggests to us, and where it leads us. This freedom is fundamental, but it will only be active when, freed from all our slaveries, we manage to make enough silence within ourselves to hear what our inner voice is telling us.
On a broader societal level, how do you think this excessiveness may be harming our communities and society?
This newfound freedom will give us greater availability to see and hear the environment, our community and will strengthen us to work more effectively for our society.
The irony of struggling with happiness in modern times is glaring. In many places in the world today, we have more than ever before in history. Yet despite this, so many people are unhappy. Why is simplifying a solution? How would simplifying help people to access happiness?
Simplification in all areas saves space and time for more important things. This is in the external life as well as in the mind.
The simpler it is, the easier it is to manage. But simplification implies that we have first sorted out the priority elements and those that are accessory. We therefore start to put things in order and we can see more clearly to move forward.
Can you share some insights from your own experience? Where in your life have you transformed yourself from not having enough to finally experiencing enough? For example, many people feel they don’t have enough money. Yet, people define abundance differently, and often, those with the least money can feel the most abundant. Where in your health, wealth, or relationships have you transformed your life?
It is difficult to extract from the necessities we are involved in because of our responsibilities, but we can always simplify and regularly review what is necessary and what is unnecessary. In my relationships, for example, I was unable to say no, especially as I am used to being loyal to my friends. Not only did I have no time for myself, but some of these relationships were negative, even toxic, and dragged me down, leaving me with feelings that would have led me to depression. Then I realised that I could only maintain the positive relationships and I managed to cut off the toxic ones.
People, places, and things shape our lives. For example, your friends generate conversations that influence you. Where you live impacts what you eat and how you spend your time. The “things” in your life, like phones, technology, or books impact your recreation. Can you tell us a little about how people, places, and things in your own life impact your experience of “experiencing enough?”
I have had the privilege to meet personally and live with exceptional people, great professors in psychology or history who have made a remarkable contribution to our society. These people have written key books or founded remarkable universities or health centers. I realised that the secret of their fruitfulness was precisely their ability to isolate themselves from the “noise” and attractions of our society.
Another experience that everyone can have is the encounter with certain communities in poor countries where hospitality is a sacred duty and where the other is first.
What advice would you give to younger people about “experiencing enough?”This is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you share your “five ways we can simplify and declutter our lives to make us happier?”
I would say:
- Step back and isolate yourself each day to relearn how to listen to the inspiration within and reconnect with the Living One who loves humanity.
- Try to identify everything that alienates you, that holds you in bondage, and free yourself.
- Be attentive to the surroundings, to nature, to others
- Listen to your body and heal it.
- Be patient and you will find your way.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I love young people and I suffer from seeing how our young people are so quickly led astray because of the lack of basic education. I would like to open houses for lost or depressed teenagers, with good reading material, inspiring activities and above all, a strong and loving team to receive and guide them.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
There is not much online for the moment, everything is still in draft form, but I am on linkedin, I have my translator website and people can also contact me directly.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world.
Claire Nottale On How Simplifying & Decluttering Your Life Can Make You Happier was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.