Stressed and out of control with so much consumption. It’s easier than anything now to completely fill our heads and lives with things. Overwhelmed with our own clutter we struggle to find focus. How do we decide what to keep? What to toss? I learned from some of my studies several ideas that can help. They helped me understand trash from treasure intellectually and physically.
How tidy we are is important. Our inner peace depends on it. Clutter is getting in the way of our very happiness. Taking control of our intellectual property and physical property can help you realize change that impacts you the rest of your life. A big promise of possibilities. The beginning to unlocking what’s possible. A freeing of our potential. Once we are no longer crowded by all these “things” we are able to reflect on what’s in front of us.
It’s not a light endeavor to tackle at all. It requires us to make some difficult choices. We will come in full contact with things that we’ve been wanting to avoid and put off. That’s why we’ve collected some of it in the first place. To put it off, to stall, and deal with it when we want to, not because we have to. We like to tell ourselves it’s worth keeping. Some of what we collect were gifts. The best start is one after being well rested and when you can think. Not under stress. Not when you’re completely spent. You’ll need some mental capacity to deal with what to let go and what to keep.
It can start with three simple questions:
Do I really need this? Do I love it? Do I use it?
A bit simpler than Kondo I realize. But a combination of what she’s shared and others. We need filters to reflect through. Accountability in what we decide to hold onto and what we let go of. If you cannot answer yes to any of those filters, than we need to let it go so we can make room for something potentially better. We need to know ourselves more.
To know ourselves you can begin to reorder to that context. Once we begin to know ourselves we can begin to make choices that are more self centered. We need to be self centered. Or, someone else will be for us. Our things will become what dictates us or controls us. An orderly head and home is much more available to breakthroughs than a messy cluttered one.
Some of the best practices I’ve come into contact with have been the ones that are created from simple daily habits. After a while I’ve even found them to happen automatically. Ritualistic in fact. A simple one I’ve found in great practice is picking up a physical item of clutter that doesn’t have a home and put it away or discard it. I’ve found through that simple habit I’ve started to take it with me to work or other places. Eliminating clutter in other spaces brings focus to what matters most.
What takes the place of the vacuums we create once we’ve vacated most of what doesn’t matter? Spending time with ourselves we should know what to replace the voids left by the non-essential. Replacing it with the beauty and the things we’ve always wanted to. The fascinating things. Our goals. Our dreams. You may like I found out, decide nothing needs to fill in the holes left over. You may find bliss in your new minimalistic habits. A calming.
Achieving outer and inner order can be challenging, but it will leave you with a freedom.
We need to create better control over aspects in our lives like clutter we fill our heads with and physical clutter we pile around us. Making better habits and the difficult choices about what to discard will give us a clearer sense of purpose. Purpose to find the best version of ourselves.
✌ Shawn
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