Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Decluttering as a Spiritual Practice
When I go back to decluttering as a way to simplify my life so that I can attend to the things that are truly important, it gets much easier. When I use the process itself as a spiritual process, it's even easier. Attending to things on the material plane makes things elsewhere (on the emotional, mental and spiritual planes) smoother.
I decided a lot of things that may, in fact, be completely contradictory, but that help me nonetheless. Feel free to pick and choose for your own use!
*I decided to "make friends" with my mess and my room. Instead of seeing the clutter and getting angry, I'm trying to greet it like a slightly disheveled friend who needs my attention.
*I decided that things don't have to be perfect. Just because I can't get the whole thing cleaned and sorted tonight, doesn't mean I can't do a little bit.
*I decided I want my space to look nice, and feel relaxing, calm, content and happy.
*I decided to always keep in mind that things CHANGE. Everything is dynamic. The room may be neat for a while. Then it may be sloppy. Then in between. Why think of the neatness as temporary and the clutter as its permenant state?
*It's okay to make some "wrong" decisions about stuff. Getting rid of the wrong thing, or keeping something silly, well, ultimately, it's okay. Making decisions incites energy to move, and things shift (and CHANGE!) and you end up with your space feeling fresher and more alive.
I decided a lot of things that may, in fact, be completely contradictory, but that help me nonetheless. Feel free to pick and choose for your own use!
*I decided to "make friends" with my mess and my room. Instead of seeing the clutter and getting angry, I'm trying to greet it like a slightly disheveled friend who needs my attention.
*I decided that things don't have to be perfect. Just because I can't get the whole thing cleaned and sorted tonight, doesn't mean I can't do a little bit.
*I decided I want my space to look nice, and feel relaxing, calm, content and happy.
*I decided to always keep in mind that things CHANGE. Everything is dynamic. The room may be neat for a while. Then it may be sloppy. Then in between. Why think of the neatness as temporary and the clutter as its permenant state?
*It's okay to make some "wrong" decisions about stuff. Getting rid of the wrong thing, or keeping something silly, well, ultimately, it's okay. Making decisions incites energy to move, and things shift (and CHANGE!) and you end up with your space feeling fresher and more alive.
# posted by wen @ 9:39 AM 
