Spring Cleaning- Decluttering

Winter is on its way out and spring is beginning to force it's way in. The exchange of energy between the two has me alternating between continued hibernation or tackling my spring cleaning. (Things would go smoother if the pull back to hibernation did not happen when I just took everything out of the cupboards!) I do feel energized when I have a clean and organized space. The urge to spring clean must be wired into our biology; it is responding to the energy of spring. "Your home is an extension of your energy field. This is why practices like cleaning your home, rearranging furniture, organizing your closet, and getting rid of objects that are cluttering your space can have a profound impact on your mind, body, and spirit." - Maryam Hasnaa The Oxford definition of clutter is- "A collection of things laying about in an untidy mass." It can be frustrating to look at your home, or your phone, or the thoughts in your head and realize that you are overrun. Once you realize you are, instead of feeling overwhelmed, you could use the situation for some more personal reflection and growth (yea!) There has been an interest in the psychology of clutter the last few years due partly to the fascination with hoarders and organizational gurus such as Marie Kondo. Clutter has a meaning. "Decluttering is not about stuff. The only way to clear clutter once and for all is to figure out why you have it in the first place. " - unknown

Let's examine a few of the reasons we collect more than we need-

1. It's hard to throw away memories. "Does your stuff and the things around you represent who you are today, or who you were in the past?" - The Unclutter Angel Are you still a 10-year-old 4-H competitor, teenage athlete, or craft person? Maybe you are, maybe the physical things you are holding onto will come in useful someday when you lose weight so you can play volleyball again. If you tossed them out, you would regret it. Besides, they don't call them 'glory days' for nothing, you were awesome. Maybe being constantly reminded that you are no longer that person is hurting you mentally by eroding your confidence in the person you are now. This could be keeping you from moving on and accepting the new because you want to hold on to the familiar. "The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past." - Marie Kondo
2. Acquisition fills a void. I don't know if any of you have a tendency to use 'retail therapy' to avoid dealing with your feelings but I certainly have. "The ceaseless task of the modern man is to disguise how lonely, scared and confused he is among all his trinkets." - Dean Abbott We buy useful things, pretty things, things for other people, things to impress, craft supplies, and things just because they are on sale. We bring these things into our homes and then have to find somewhere to put them. The feelings we were avoiding though, are still with us. "Clutter is just a museum of shit you thought would make you happy." - unknown
3. It allows us to procrastinate. Consider the following two quotes: "Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions."- Barbara Hemphill and "Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination." - Christina Scalise. Why is there a link between procrastination and clutter? Why do we have a hard time making decisions? I think that it is because we are afraid of making the wrong choice. I saw a cause and effect line once that looked like this: Perfectionism --> Procrastination --> Paralysis. The perfectionist (a purely emotional entity) within us doesn't want to be wrong, look stupid, or fail. This leads us to not make a decision (procrastination) out of fear, which then causes us to shut down, not take action, to be paralyzed. Then things just start piling up in our lives. Can the perfectionist be stopped? "Procrastination and avoidance are due to an inability to regulate emotions. It isn't about willpower or a moral issue. It's handling the feelings that arise when tasks need to be completed." - J. Mike Fields Feelings again, must be a sign. If I get honest with myself, I am not going to use that kettlebell. Should I be using it? Yes (guilt). Did it cost me money to own it? Yes. Why am I not taking advantage of the benefits that I could get if I would just pick it up and use it consistently?
4. The objects in question might be valuable. My husband has an antique dresser that was his grandmothers. It is small, awkward, the drawers don't pull smoothly, and the cupboard latch doesn't stay shut, among other irritations. He was told that it was worth over two thousand dollars and so he uses it despite the inconvenience. I have a co-worker that owns a baby grand piano (it was his fathers) that is worth over ten thousand dollars, even though no one in his home can play it. He continues to haul it around with him when they move, he says that it's really heavy and he's scared it will get damaged. Holding onto something that isn't in your best interest just because it's worth a lot of money or even if it has sentimental value, is a waste of space, takes up time you don't have, and brings little value to your life besides bragging rights. I guess we have to get clear with ourselves as to why we want to keep holding on. "We don't need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it." - Donald Horban
5. We buy for who we hope to be in the future or for a person we were in the past that we can't let go of. "Letting go... gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything, anger, anxiety, or possessions, we cannot be free." - Thich Nhat Hanh Freedom is a result of living in the present. Buying too small of a dress in hopes that the diet you are on works is not living in the present, it's a hope for the future. It takes up time, money, space, and puts you on a trajectory that may not be able to maintain due to life events so you can then feel like a failure before you box it up and take it to the second-hand store. The same can be said about holding onto anger over past events; it takes up time, money(for therapy or other coping mechanisms), space in your head and heart, and leads to negative feelings accompanying you wherever you go. Keep working on skinny you but accept the reality of who you are today. Go to therapy to resolve your anger but understand that there is a price to be paid every minute that you cannot move past it.

"What I know for sure is that when you declutter- whether it's on your home, your head, or your heart- it is astounding what will flow into that space that will enrich you, your life, and your family." - Peter Walsh This is the flow of new energy, pushing aside the old and bringing in a new way of seeing yourself, your home, your life. "The greatest wealth is to live content with little." - Plato Our time on earth is limited and clutter, in our homes, heads, or hearts, gets in the way of our freedom. It keeps us from having the time or focus to be there for others, makes tasks take twice as long, takes away time to spend on hobbies, and even being able to exercise or get outside and enjoy nature or travel. The following poem I think is relevant:

Dust If You Must

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter.
Bake a cake or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there,
With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go- and go you must-
You, yourself, will make more dust. - Rose Milton

I hope that while doing our spring cleaning this time around, that we will be mindful of what kind of life we want to create for ourselves and have the nerve to clear out the clutter that is holding us back from what is important. If you liked the quotes that I used in this post, you can find a free printable quote sheet here.

Love and Hope,

Big Sky Baby