Skip to main content

Clearing the way...

Today I couldn't decide how to use my day.  What should I do first?
My list of "to-dos" was long and eating at me, but I couldn't seem to figure out what to do or how to make any dents in those projects.
What could I do so that I could feel like I was making some progress?  How could I get rid of the self-doubt and the feeling that the path was uncertain?  Nothing was clear and fear had crept in.
So, I gave up and started to organize.  I cleared the clutter.  I sorted through the old.  I tossed and recycled.  I reminisced and remembered.  I made new lists.  I created new systems and made space.
I gained strength.  I gained perspective.  I gained confidence.
I am again and again reminded that to move forward we need to clear the clutter of the past.  Clear the heaviness, clear the old thoughts & patterns, clear the way for new ideas and growth.
I read recently that doing inner work is like window washing.  We are clearing up the lens that we have been looking through.  If we have a muddled view, then we will see the world as muddled.  If we have junk piled up, then we won't be able to find any space.
I want so badly for things to be quick, easy, and clear, but in order to see progress I need to go through the process of cleaning up.  Preparing.  Organizing and making space.
I will clear the way and be ready.
Do you need a little window cleaning?  
How are you seeing the world and what might have piled up while you were busy living?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Letting go & holding on- how you can do both at the same time

Everyday I am thinking about letting go.  My days are spent in sessions with clients, or reading about decluttering tips, or writing blog posts, all in an effort to support clients as they let go of clutter and unwanted habits.  Letting go is something that I have made into my life's work, but never is it more "in my face" than when I sit with my grandma at the nursing home.  My grandma has Dementia/Alzheimers.  I don't even know what or which or why or how, but I do know that it seems we have lost her to the disease and letting go & holding on are happening all at once. As I sit and watch her sleep, I can stroke her hand and feel the many memories of playing Go to the Dump or Crazy Eight on my days off of Kindergarten, getting a home perm in her kitchen in elementary school, and painting my nails at her kitchen nook in H.S.  I remember learning how to snap a dish towel with my cousins as we cleaned up from holiday gatherings & singing and dancing...

Any way the wind blows

Last week I was challenged to take a day to myself.  Actually take it for "myself."  Decide what I wanted to do.  What the spirit moved me to do. I find this challenge is so hard in a culture where getting things done is the measure of success.  Whenever I have a "day off," I think of all of the things that I need to get done and race around to get them done quickly and then maybe I can fit in a bit of time for myself. This assignment was different.  I needed to keep the agenda only on things that felt "right" for that day.  I set off with a little list of errands (in case there was time after "my time" to make some stops) and a general idea of where I wanted to go, but when I got in the car and started driving I felt some rebellion stirring. I didn't want to take the usual route.  I didn't want to see what I always see.  It felt like being on my usual path might create the temptation to do something that wasn't really in my hea...

The Holiday Shuffle

This time of year, I always find myself struggling to keep the holiday spirit as I contemplate my lists of things to do in order to get to every event on our calendar with all of the required food, gifts, smiles, and energy.  It is the same every year.  Every year I say to myself, "how could I do this differently next year?" and every year I find myself in the same place.  The holiday bustle is starting earlier and earlier and it seems like that only creates more pressure for performance. In my house I am the bah, humbug of the family.  I am not ready or willing to start thinking Christmas until Thanksgiving is on the books.  I usually don't listen to Christmas music until that day, and I don't get the tree or the house decorated until after that day.  I'm the scrooge who lives with a husband and kids that would (and do) listen to Christmas music year-round!  I feel guilty for being this way, but I also try to honor each day, and I guess for me ...