The Holistic Clean Up: Creating a Clear Space in Your Life
May 2009
Conscious Living
by Kathy Ryndak and Gord Riddell
As nature has been doing her job of spring cleaning with April showers, it is now our turn to consider doing our part. While we may think of spring cleaning as removing the dirt of winter, tidying up the yard and washing the windows, it is also a great time to consider de-cluttering your home and your life.
There is a correlation between the clutter of our external environment and the clutter of our internal space — our minds. When people remove clutter from their personal spaces and work spaces, they will often find it a freeing experience.
Many of us accumulate, collect, hoard and generally turn into the proverbial pack rat as the years continue on. We hang onto things that are rarely, if ever, used. And yet we hang on just in case someday we need them.
The types and amount of things we hang on to over the years is simply amazing. Whether the items are hoarded away in your garage, closets or basement, the accumulation can be daunting.
LETTING GO OF THE OLD
Here are several ideas for the spring season that will help you free up your space, both inside and out:
1) Start small. Pick an area that is not overflowing with stuff. A home office spilling over with files, books and articles can be enough to make anyone turn around and close the door. You will be more successful when you feel you are making progress. Starting with a slightly less cluttered area will help motivate you to continue. In turn, you will get things done more quickly.
2) Be ruthless. You need to disassociate yourself from your belongings if you are serious about this spring clean up. You must make quick decisions about what you need to hang on to, what you may want to sell, donate or recycle, and what is garbage. The trick here is that once you make a decision, stick with the choice and move on.
3) Be realistic. When going through your wardrobe, the rule of thumb is, if you have not worn it in the last year, you probably will not wear it in the coming year. Although fashion may sometimes reappear, are those jeans from the 80’s really going to be fashionable again? Even if they are, as with most of us, are you still the same size as you were two decades ago? It is time to pass those clothes onwards.
4) Sort. Going through old memories – especially through photos – can be the most difficult task, as these belongings hold many of our memories. The easiest way to go through photos is to get rid of all the duplicates first. Do we really need 12 shots of Grandpa’s boat at the dock to remember our childhood summers? That one picture will have much more significance when we don’t have another 11 to sort through to move onto the next picture. The important thing here is not to turn sorting through photos into a trip down memory lane, or you will never get anything done. Remember step two: be ruthless.
5) Be strong. While rummaging through your things, your mind will go through all sorts of reactions, experiencing everything from nostalgia to convincing yourself that you really do need to hold on to these things. The mind, especially the unconscious mind, wants to keep everything the same — to maintain the status quo. It can be become quite insistent when we try to change things. The important part is to keep moving forward and letting go.
Our external world can often be a metaphor, or even a mirror, for our mind. When we hold on to and collect lots of things for our home and office, usually our mind does the same thing.
This is not to say that we want to let go of our memories or our history. But when we hold on to old hurts, angers and grudges, we clutter our internal space. These things can interfere with our ability to be creative, to be inspired and to move through our world in a healthy way. Sorting through our internal space has an equally freeing feeling as de-cluttering our external environment. Often, it is not as easy to let go internally, but it can be done. Many of the old feelings we hold onto should be let go of so that we can make room for new feelings and experiences.
This internal cleaning opens us up to more possibilities, to live in the now and to be present in our life — much like the cleaned up house offers more room to move around in.
Starting with the inside of our selves may be more difficult to start a clean up with. So start with your living or work space, as this definitely has a ripple effect on our minds.
As you sort, recycle and discard your things, the feelings of freeing up space will happen on the inside as well. So a nice way to give your mind and spirit a clearer space is to start clearing from the outside. A word of caution: this spring cleaning is an ongoing activity. Don’t start accumulating more things inside and out without letting go of other things to keep a clear space for yourself.
Gord Riddell and Kathy Ryndak are therapists and co-founders of the Transformational Arts College. The College offers both Full and Part-time professional and personal growth programs in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Holistic Health Care, Coaching and Natural Spa Therapies. Registrations for this September are well under way. The ever popular “Discovering the Total Self” program begins its next rotation in May. For a calendar call the College at 416-484-0454 or toll free 1-800-TAC-SELF or online at www.transformationalarts.com
by Kathy Ryndak and Gord RiddellAs nature has been doing her job of spring cleaning with April showers, it is now our turn to consider doing our part. While we may think of spring cleaning as removing the dirt of winter, tidying up the yard and washing the windows, it is also a great time to consider de-cluttering your home and your life.
There is a correlation between the clutter of our external environment and the clutter of our internal space — our minds. When people remove clutter from their personal spaces and work spaces, they will often find it a freeing experience.
Many of us accumulate, collect, hoard and generally turn into the proverbial pack rat as the years continue on. We hang onto things that are rarely, if ever, used. And yet we hang on just in case someday we need them.
The types and amount of things we hang on to over the years is simply amazing. Whether the items are hoarded away in your garage, closets or basement, the accumulation can be daunting.
LETTING GO OF THE OLD
Here are several ideas for the spring season that will help you free up your space, both inside and out:
1) Start small. Pick an area that is not overflowing with stuff. A home office spilling over with files, books and articles can be enough to make anyone turn around and close the door. You will be more successful when you feel you are making progress. Starting with a slightly less cluttered area will help motivate you to continue. In turn, you will get things done more quickly.
2) Be ruthless. You need to disassociate yourself from your belongings if you are serious about this spring clean up. You must make quick decisions about what you need to hang on to, what you may want to sell, donate or recycle, and what is garbage. The trick here is that once you make a decision, stick with the choice and move on.
3) Be realistic. When going through your wardrobe, the rule of thumb is, if you have not worn it in the last year, you probably will not wear it in the coming year. Although fashion may sometimes reappear, are those jeans from the 80’s really going to be fashionable again? Even if they are, as with most of us, are you still the same size as you were two decades ago? It is time to pass those clothes onwards.
4) Sort. Going through old memories – especially through photos – can be the most difficult task, as these belongings hold many of our memories. The easiest way to go through photos is to get rid of all the duplicates first. Do we really need 12 shots of Grandpa’s boat at the dock to remember our childhood summers? That one picture will have much more significance when we don’t have another 11 to sort through to move onto the next picture. The important thing here is not to turn sorting through photos into a trip down memory lane, or you will never get anything done. Remember step two: be ruthless.
5) Be strong. While rummaging through your things, your mind will go through all sorts of reactions, experiencing everything from nostalgia to convincing yourself that you really do need to hold on to these things. The mind, especially the unconscious mind, wants to keep everything the same — to maintain the status quo. It can be become quite insistent when we try to change things. The important part is to keep moving forward and letting go.
Our external world can often be a metaphor, or even a mirror, for our mind. When we hold on to and collect lots of things for our home and office, usually our mind does the same thing.
This is not to say that we want to let go of our memories or our history. But when we hold on to old hurts, angers and grudges, we clutter our internal space. These things can interfere with our ability to be creative, to be inspired and to move through our world in a healthy way. Sorting through our internal space has an equally freeing feeling as de-cluttering our external environment. Often, it is not as easy to let go internally, but it can be done. Many of the old feelings we hold onto should be let go of so that we can make room for new feelings and experiences.
This internal cleaning opens us up to more possibilities, to live in the now and to be present in our life — much like the cleaned up house offers more room to move around in.
Starting with the inside of our selves may be more difficult to start a clean up with. So start with your living or work space, as this definitely has a ripple effect on our minds.
As you sort, recycle and discard your things, the feelings of freeing up space will happen on the inside as well. So a nice way to give your mind and spirit a clearer space is to start clearing from the outside. A word of caution: this spring cleaning is an ongoing activity. Don’t start accumulating more things inside and out without letting go of other things to keep a clear space for yourself.
Gord Riddell and Kathy Ryndak are therapists and co-founders of the Transformational Arts College. The College offers both Full and Part-time professional and personal growth programs in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Holistic Health Care, Coaching and Natural Spa Therapies. Registrations for this September are well under way. The ever popular “Discovering the Total Self” program begins its next rotation in May. For a calendar call the College at 416-484-0454 or toll free 1-800-TAC-SELF or online at www.transformationalarts.com