My Commitment to Cleaning House (Inside and Out)

Welcome to Spring Cleaning - where I will undertake "cleaning house" (inside and out) over the course of 52 weeks (spring to spring).

• Clutter: I'll be taking a hard look at the clutter in my home, why I collect it, and what I should do with it.
• Live for my life today, not yesterday or tomorrow: I intend to let go of what I don't need and to make sure what stays has a consciously considered, honored place.
• Be open: In the course of this journey emotions will arise and (I hope) positive changes will appear - and I'll be honest about that too.

 

What, you think I'm about 4 months too late for a New Year's Resolution? Well, spring brings up new things out of the ground as well as each of us, and the universe is calling me to start taking my "stuff" seriously.

If you're a feng shui junkie, you know the idea that the clutter in your home both affects you and is a reflection of how things are going for you right now. (The classic Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston makes this clear.) It's easy to read about it, but I've found it's much harder to live it in a useful way, without it becoming superstitious activity or just background noise to daily life.

I got a wake-up call yesterday when I read this article in Experience Life magazine. In particular, this quote from Geralin Thomas (expert who appears on A&E's Hoarders) stood out:

Your house has to be something other than just a container for your stuff. You need to figure out if your possessions orient you toward having or being. The 'havings' want to acquire and possess. For 'beings,' it's all about experience. The beings are eager to let go of things that aren't being enjoyed and used; the opposite is true for the havings.

Your house should be a respite from the world. A place where you want to enjoy your life, a place where you can enjoy your family, your friends, your spiritual practice, whatever you're into. But if you're not into the stuff that's in your house, then it's got to go. It doesn't tell the story of who you are. 

Yikes! I love to organize, but it is paired with a history of perpetually collecting things to organize. This whole thing actually has me kind of shaky... But I've got the Official Nudge, and I know better than to not listen.

Spring has always been a shake-up time for me - I get this edgy feeling I can't ignore that something needs to change. (Just ask my husband - when we were dating, every springtime I'd start thinking maybe I'd break it off... lucky for me when a spring came when I realized it was actually time to commit!) The vernal equinox was 11 days ago, and today is Easter of all things - there is new life in the air.

In the beginning, spring can be a yucky season - all brown, often soggy, not much promise... but then the bulbs pop up, and things slowly start to green... until one day it seems like everything is exploding with blooms and the sun shines and the air feels warm and enticing on the skin.

So here goes to clearing and cleaning for sprouting a life full of color!

Anyone want to join me?