Week #3: Transform Your Life Through Digital Detoxing & Calendar Cleansing

A good friend recently gave me an hourglass as part of a belated Christmas present. The gift came with a hand-written note that included a profound Shakespearean quote about time. As I flipped my unique treasure upside-down and examined the fine gray granules flowing through its narrow neck, I was struck by the humbling thought that my time on earth is not limitless. Talk about getting REAL.

The REAL tea is that we simply don’t know how much time we have left on our journeys. All we can be sure of is that we have this moment. This is precisely why we are being constantly encouraged to live in the now and seize the day! Time is of the essence.

Time demands respect. It desires to be slowly savored. It asks only to be recognized and managed with care and gratitude.

Each of us has a limited amount of time to enjoy life and leave our mark (at least as it pertains to the role we were born to play in this particular time and place). Faced with such uncertain circumstances, we must embrace life and do everything within our power to experience it fully, with joy and peace saturating every second.

We can’t mess around here, friends. We can go big, or we can go home. Time demands that we live for REAL.

Honoring Time through the Ritual of REAL Space Clearing

Having a keen sense of our impermanence does not have to be a downer. REAL awareness about the precious and fleeting qualities of time can empower us to appreciate and spend it wisely and with authentic intention.

We have taken the last few weeks to clear, clean, and open up our space to make room for the REAL ways we want to use our time as we move forward. In organizing and refreshing the physical areas in which we live and breathe, we have structured those environments in ways that allow us to make the most of our time.

The work we have done to deliberately transform our physical worlds into places that better support our REAL dreams and visions has equipped us with new perspectives and fresh insights. We are not the same people we were at the turn of the year. We are awake, for REAL.

With rekindled clarity and wide-open eyes, we march into the final stage of our REAL space detox prepared to cleanse and clear our digital real estate. Together, let us scrub up our cyber and cellular spaces. In doing so, we will create bridges to our inner worlds, setting the stage to deeply examine and cleanse our minds and hearts in the coming months.

Day-Timer Detox 101

One of the finest ways to honor your time and create a REAL life is to make room in your moments and days for activities, experiences, and interactions that support the energy, vibe, and vision you are cultivating. It can be challenging to turn in our “busy” badges and “champion doer” superhero capes, especially in a society where an over-booked itinerary has sadly become a sought-after status symbol.

At the end of the day, however, cleaning and clearing our physical spaces won’t do any good if we have no time to spend enjoying and relaxing in them. We must deeply examine our schedules and deliberately create the time we require to do the work that will bring our visions and intentions to life.

Start to craft the time you need to live your best REAL life, and use the following suggestions as your guide.

• Make it a point to begin mastering the art of saying no more often. Let someone else be the organizer and ring leader every now and then. This ties into family, friend, and community requests and expectations – there are enough of us to share the load on all fronts, you don’t have to do it all!
• If an activity is not crucial to your livelihood, family function, or health, take it off the calendar and place it on a to-be-categorized list (we will get back to it, no worries!).
• Save a slot each week/weekend to try something new (either by yourself or with others). Make it a fun game of discovery and set aside some time to find out what interests you. Don’t limit the list to things only tied to spiritual or mental growth, or to activities that are expensive or need to be done outside of the home. Dabble in a variety of endeavors and think outside of your box. You will organically receive the internal benefits whether visiting the trending ax throwing club or painting by number at your kitchen table. 
• Carve out (I mean literally schedule) daily time for breathing, gentle pauses, & mindful moments. Start with three 5-minute mini-breaks per day… one for morning, one for mid-day, one for evening….we are only talking about 15 minutes here!
• Block off (I mean literally schedule) daily time for silence, solitude, & activities that soothe you. Start with two 10-minute mini-breaks per day…one in the first part of the day and one in the later part of the day…we are talking about 20 minutes total!
• After you have allotted time for all of the above, revisit your to-be-categorized list. Examine each item and do some raw and honest self-assessment. Highlight all activities/events/tasks that you do not prefer, enjoy, or gain any positive benefits from, and brainstorm ways you can begin to gradually remove these from your docket and/or minimize their frequency and length.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable with the strange responses and quiet resistance you will experience as you make these tweaks (both within yourself and from others). Change can be trying for everyone, but it can be conquered with consistency and commitment.

Foster REAL Productivity

Block time to devote for actions that move you closer to your dreams, visions, and desires. Replace TV viewing and social media scrolling time with activities that inspire,  motivate, and energize you. Recognize that getting up earlier may be required in order to fit more of these new and positive activities into your daily experience (rest need not be sacrificed: go to bed earlier, and this will balance out!!).

Assess if the hours you are working in your job are REALly necessary. Are you working more than you need to? Some of the most productive people I know get an 8-10 hour “to do” list completed in 5-6 hours. Get open to changing your thought patterns and approaches when it comes to defining and achieving a “good day’s work.” Are you working 40+ hour weeks out of need or out of habit?

Optimize the times of day in which you tend to be more productive. If you are a morning person, for instance, structure your day so you can complete the bulk of your more intense work tasks by lunch time, which will leave the afternoon open for less complex tasks (and some fun and relaxation!).

Is there time allotted for self-care each day? If you are depleted, you will have nothing to give (to anyone). Self-love and self-care are restorative and necessary. Increase your productivity by allowing yourself time to recharge.

Make REAL Play Dates

Remember the scene in the movie The Shining, when we realize that Jack Nicholson’s insane character has spent months typing an entire manuscript filled with pages that repeat the sentence, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy?” We all know what happened after that. Yikes!

We may not necessarily go completely psycho from a lack of playtime, but life is certainly way less REAL and happy without regular doses of fun.

REAL balance is key, and integrating an element of playfulness into our daily lives is crucial if we want to stay centered.

The REAL tea is that you can’t afford NOT to have fun and be playful. We need to stop saying (and thinking) that fun is a luxury. It is a necessity! Fun leads to laughter. Laughter leads to relaxation. Relaxation leads to flow and good energy. Good energy attracts more good energy, and so on.

Build fun into your days, and you will see your life magically transform in very REAL ways.

REAL Computer Cleansing

The REAL tea is that most of us don’t manage our lives on paper anymore. We keep ourselves digitally organized, tracking finances, events, and communications within the cyber spaces we inhabit. Our faces are in our screens more than we would likely care to admit, so it is imperative that what we are perpetually viewing and clicking through is organized in a way that reflects the REAL peace and simplicity we are working to manifest in our worlds. Chaos within file folders and inboxes creates chaos in your energy field and life experience.

• Delete unnecessary files and folders. Transfer them to a flash drive if you just can’t bare to trash them completely.
• Clean out and organize all of your inboxes. Delete anything more than one month old, or place it in a sub-folder for easy access.
• Unsubscribe to all of those shops and organizations that you don’t care about. Take the lead on reducing the junk mail!!
• Does receiving regular email make you feel loved? Then sign up to receive positive and inspirational email blurbs. Subscribe to a few selected sites that will send you wisdom, messages, & info designed to infuse peace, awareness, and happy elements into your daily experience. Check out my REAL resources page for some suggestions, and make sure to subscribe to my site asap!!

REAL Cellular Sanitation

Let’s face it – the cell phone has essentially morphed into the newest human appendage. Our phones have evolved into so much more than a means to make a call. They act as our cameras, our watches, our alarm clocks, our address books, our radios, our news sources, our encyclopedias…the list seems endless. Literally and figuratively, your cell phone is an extension of you. Just as your digital and electronic spaces carry energies that express and impact you, your phone holds the same power.

• Remove apps and games that you either no longer use, no longer serve a positive purpose, or no longer represent the REAL you and the life you are intentionally creating. Add some new ones that support your authentic vision, goals, and vibe (try the apps for GNN, Shine, or Headspace).

• Clean out your contact list. Who is in there that you either already removed or should remove from your social network? Is there anyone whose info you are holding onto because of old emotional baggage and attachments? Why let the wrong people take up space in your phone?
• Cleanse your camera roll. Store the keepers on a flash drive, cloud, or disc. Delete the images that are attached to negative memories, people, or vibes. Keep images on the roll that bring you joy, make you laugh and smile, make you feel happy. Make room so that you can add to the collection that brings you contentment and peace (whether they are of people you love, quotes that speak to you, or objects and places that represent your vision and interests).

REAL Social Media Scrub Down

Our media walls are the places where we pin up our values, opinions, thoughts, and ideas for all the world to see. These amazingly innovative outlets can be used to show the world what and who we care about and what we celebrate and are grateful for. They allow us to connect with others at a quite extensive level, providing us with the means to transcend the barriers of distance. They offer us a way to share ourselves at a global level. This is REAL powerful stuff.

Recognize the power of collective consciousness. Acknowledge and appreciate the energy that your words and pictures send out to everyone who is exposed to them, and to the universe at large. Reflect on this as you refresh your social media platforms, and make the decision to use them only to reinforce your authentic vibe and vision.

If politics and religion are dear to you, for example, post only messages that represent religious and political aspects that you would like to see more of (as opposed to broadcasting examples of the negativity we all wish – in our own way – to see disappear).

Take down and remove pictures and posts that no longer express the REAL you and your present vision and vibe.

Take down and remove posts and pics that represent negativity, judgement, or other fear-based emotions. The world has enough of that floating around without you adding to the mix.

REAL Reflections

There are deep-seeded reasons why we continue to overpack our calendars, phones, computers, and social media pages. We tell ourselves that we have no choice in the matter, but the REAL truth is that we do decide.

The REAL tea is that we are afraid to make these changes and try a new approach. The specific things we fear vary from person to person, yet they are well worth uncovering and processing.

Do you fear what may surface if you removed the busyness barrier and sat still for REAL?

Do you fear the guilt that might result from prioritizing self-care time, setting firmer boundaries, and saying no?

Do you fear that deleting contacts and pictures would be a dishonor to your past, or to the people that were part of it?

As you move through your digital territories and devices, make some time for reflection and journaling. Use these questions to prompt your self-examination.

The REAL Time for REAL Love is Upon Us

As January comes to a close and February begins, we celebrate our efforts around the REAL space detox ritual that we have taken the last few weeks to pursue together.

Through the intentional detoxification, clearing, and renewal of our physical and digital spaces, we have participated in a symbolic rite of passage. We have carved a path for the next journey.

In preparing our outer environments for the new and refined external experiences we are creating and calling in, we have empowered ourselves to successfully conquer and cleanse our internal landscapes.

Armed with mindfulness, awareness, and authentic ambition, we now pass over the threshold and enter our inner houses, prepared to clean and clear our sacred spaces and make room for the REAL love that will transform them into our REAL homes.

The time for self-exploration and self-love is now, because now is all we have. The path has been cleared.

And that, my friends, is the REAL tea.

Get REAL. Check out more REAL resources in the library! 

 

Week 2: Detoxing Our Living Spaces with Clear Vision & Clean Energy

I love visiting the homes of my friends and family, especially when there are overnights and extended stays in the mix! It can be fun to explore and experience the energies that different spaces and places have.

When I am invited to dine, lounge, bathe, and sleep in someone else’s home, I am given a chance to see and feel their life vibe and vision in a very REAL way. Even more cool is the opportunity to “try on” different styles, scenes, and ambiances (which helps expand my awareness of my own evolving preferences).

These days, when I am someone’s houseguest, I approach the experience of shared time in a much more mindful fashion. Doing so allows me to appreciate my hosts’ company in a new and richer way, and to take a more active and intimate role in their routine and daily experience.

I not only walk away feeling fuller from having been more present with them, but I always leave with an applicable revelation or idea. Whether I take away a new thought about how to enhance my own home, or a clearer sense of what I might not prefer to include in my personal environment, the opportunity to move around in someone else’s space with intention and awareness always sets the stage for REAL discovery.

What’s Your REAL Story?

Our living spaces reveal a lot about us. They, too, are chock full of potential for REAL discovery. With a mindful lens, we can uncover those discoveries and use the insights they provide to learn about ourselves and intentionally create the REAL amazing lives that we want and deserve.

Our outer worlds tell a quiet, but profound, story about our inner worlds. When the stories don’t match up, the disparity throws us off balance. We can say that we want to feel more peaceful and content in our moments and days, but if we design our physical spaces in a way that promotes chaos and anxiety, we will never fully experience REAL peace and contentment.

If we want the story of our internal experience to be an inspiring best-seller, we need to make sure that each page’s content embodies clarity and flow.

Taking a Mindful Approach to Detoxing

As I delved further into my REAL space detox ritual this past week, I thought quite a bit about the stories that my family room, bedroom, kitchen, and car have been telling.

What messages do these places send to me, to the family members I live with, and to my visiting friends and family? Do they tell positive and inspiring tales that align with the REAL life I am actively creating today? Are there any parts of the story that I want to revise, omit, or add new, so that the content has more clarity and flow?

I surveyed each area in preparation for my second week of cleansing and clearing, reflecting on these questions (and the many more that popped up as I pondered). Avoiding the habitual urge to jump in immediately, I took a generous pause to allow for some introspection. Then, armed with an outline for my freshly-edited story, my intention, and my dust rags, I mindfully moved through each space and poured it through the following new and fresh filters.

Our Space Requires REAL Quality Assurance & Risk Assessment

Each of us has our own unique energy field, and so do our spaces. Everything we think, say, and do fuels that energy and creates a vibration. The stuff we surround ourselves with and the environments we exist in also create energy and affect us at the mind, body, and soul level. Though the impact is invisible, it is potent. It ripples out into every aspect of our lives.

It is important for us to know what vibrational frequency we are each aiming to live in. Once that target vibe is identified, we can effectively run our living spaces through our own quality assurance process in order to ensure that the energy coming from them is supporting that vibe and not sabotaging its cultivation. We can evaluate each and every space for potential risks, and we can ultimately remove them.

Most of us want to feel positive and relaxed, and those are the vibes we desire to absorb and exude as much as possible. We all want to feel good, feel happy, and feel peaceful. What vibe do you want your waves to send out into your world and to the universe?

Do all of your spaces hold the energies and qualities of that desired vibe? Ask the questions below to find out.

A REAL Space QA Screening:

• What vibe would you (and your family) like to accentuate? What brings you and your family unit happiness, joy, & good vibes?

• Do the pieces of art, photos, books, table dressings, and other items strewn about your living space all make you feel good when you are relaxing among them?

• Do the specific items in your living spaces, as well as the organization of them, reflect the type of life you and/or your tribe are in the process of creating, and the aspects you envision integrating into your experience?

• Do the environments in which you spend the majority of your time inspire a cozy, happy, hopeful mix of emotions? Do they speak to the experiences and states of mind and being that you and/or your tribe aspire to?

• Do your spaces project regret or celebration? (hint: the goal is celebration!)

• Are your spaces a greater reflection of the past, or the present? (hint: the goal is the NOW!)

• Do your spaces give off a sense of resentment and sadness, or vision and hope? (hint: we are shooting for hope!)

• Do your spaces depict who you (and your family members) were, or who you are all working to be now (and ultimately want to become)? (hint: we are aiming for the present and beyond!)

The answers to these questions will help you identify what risks should be removed as well as what could potentially be added or refined so that the vibrational quality of your space is improved (and more closely aligned with the energy you are going for). Throwing these questions out to your family members will inspire fun and thoughtful conversation and likely generate some interesting and unexpected revelations!

Our Living Spaces are REAL Vision Boards

A classic vision board is typically a collage of pictures, images, and words that we create to set an intention for what we desire and envision our life to look like in the future. The idea is to hang the completed board somewhere we can look at it often, as a way to inspire ourselves and to place a direct call out to the universe about the specific experiences we want to manifest in our lives.

In line with the Law of Attraction, a vision board contains representations of the things, people, places, experiences, and feelings that we want to attract into our worlds. They represent the grandest and highest vision we have for our REAL lives.

Start to look at all of your primary living spaces as giant vision boards. As you work your way through each area, consider the following:

• Does each room and space reflect your (and your family’s) vision, dreams, desires, & joys?

• What would you/your family members like to see happen and manifest in the future? Do your spaces reflect those things?

• Where would you/they like to travel to? Do your spaces say anything about those places & plans?

• What are your family’s individual and collective hopes and dreams? Do your living spaces represent those?

If you do share physical space with family or friends, make this a collaborative effort and run through this list together. This is an excellent way to teach your children about their own creative power and magic! It is time to begin showing them how to shape their own experience and build the REAL lives they deserve.

Using the results of the group dialogue, scan your spaces and evaluate them with the following in mind:

• What fits our vision(s) and should remain? (Remember that what you keep will attract and be a magnet for more of the same)

• What does not work well with our vision(s), and should be removed? (Remember that we awaken in a REAL way when we shed the old stuff that no longer serves us)

• What could be added to enhance & support our vision(s)?

• How can the space(s) be rearranged and reorganized to make our vision(s) more REAL and palpable?

Our Home Should be A REAL Stay-cation Destination

I once read a quote that said something about the importance of building a life that we don’t need a vacation from, and it REALly resonated with me. A REAL life should indeed be one that feels like a vacation. Our home space should NOT be a place that creates an experience we are eager to escape from at any opportunity. Rather, it should be the place we long to escape to when we need shelter from the noise and stress of the outside world.

Of course, this is not to say that vacationing to new and distant places is a negative thing. There are enormous benefits to be gained through travel and adventure! However, if waves of dread and anxiety typically come over us when it comes time to pack up and return home from our travels, we have a REAL problem.

Do you look forward to getting home when you come back from vacation? Would you enjoy a “stay-cation” day in your home? What could you add to, remove from, or revise within your living spaces to make them more inviting, relaxing, and enjoyable?

Our Home Space should be our REAL Sanctuary

In his book Making Space: Creating a Home Meditation Practice, Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that it is hard for the mind to be peaceful when the body is not in a physical space that is peaceful.

He says that when we rest, everything becomes easier. By turning our living spaces into environments in which we can relax, breathe, rest, and heal, we can restore our well-being and better the odds that we can operate at our best. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we are all shooting for? Being our best self and maximizing our enjoyment of the moments and days we live in?

Would you consider your home to be your sanctuary? Do your living spaces bring you and your family feelings of comfort, security, and contentment?

A sense of safety and calm allow us to rest for REAL. Our living space should be a place where we can most easily rest and recharge.

What can you remove, add, or renovate within your living spaces so that all who move around in it feel protected and at ease?

Empty Space is not the REAL enemy.

Cleaning and clearing with a mindful lens will result in some empty spaces in your rooms, on your walls, and on your tables and shelves. It’s OK to have blank spots for now!

Recognize that not all clear space needs to be filled. We tend to over-decorate and overstock our rooms, our shelves, and our lives. The resulting overage causes energy jams and blocks. There needs to be a clear path for the REAL good stuff to flow in and through.

Resist the urge to fill bare spaces immediately. Give it time, reflect on your vision, ask the universe and angels for guidance.

Remember that REAL transformation requires wide open space.

The Universe Needs REAL Space to Weave its Magic

The R in REAL represents recognition. It can be difficult to recognize the universal support system that works in our favor if we live in a constant state of clutter and disarray. The universe is SO eager to help us, but we need to be awake and clear enough to notice.

Spending our moments and days in spaces that reflect negative vibes and chaos create fog and rob us of the focus and clarity needed to pick up on the signals and guidance that the universe is placing in our path everyday. With too much junk to wade through, we can literally trip over a sign or message and never see it.

Cleansing and clearing our external environment is the first step in creating open spaces where the universe can leave us its REAL treasure.

With mindfulness and intention, we can refine our homes in ways that foster REAL spirit, REAL vision, and REAL energy. We can move through our renewed spaces with the intense gratitude that comes from knowing with full certainty that the universe will help to make our visions and dreams very REAL.

And that, my friends, is the REAL tea.

Get REAL charged up about mindfully clearing your space and making room for  REAL positive energy and balance in 2019. Check out more REAL resources in the library, and subscribe now to receive additional insights, inspirations, and videos!

Week #1: Clearing the Behind-the-Door Spaces

 

The REAL Age-Old Legacy of Saving and Storing

The house I grew up in had one of those attics that could only be accessed by pulling a string attached to a small door carved into the hallway ceiling which had a foldable and rather flimsy hinged wooden ladder attached. The space in the attic was not only unwieldy to get to, but it was one in which we could not stand fully upright and which had a floor formed by a mix of scattered plywood and exposed pink insulation.

I remember the time I was watching TV in my parents’ bedroom and I saw my dad’s entire leg come through the ceiling of his clothes closet. He was putting holiday decorations away in the attic and mistakenly stepped into a space that had no floorboard. Whoops.

As much of a pain in the neck as it was to navigate that darn attic, we never hesitated to throw things up there. Literally throw them. I can still envision my mom pulling the attic hatch halfway down and tossing trash bags of God-knows-what into the dark opening. With no garage, what were we to do? Saving and storing was a must. Holding onto things is part of an age-old legacy, right?

When Marty and I bought our second house, we not only had a huge walk-in attic with easy access from the bedroom level, but we also had a three-car garage. Now we were talking. We would never run out of places to store our stuff – yay!!

When we sold the house and made the move last April, my “yay!” transformed into a “WTH?!” Let’s just say we definitely did our part to preserve that age-old legacy in the 15 years that we resided there. We filled two commercial-grade dumpsters to prove it.

Why Do We REALly save and store?

Most of us have a tendency to save things. Our shared resistance to part with possessions is no doubt a result of more than one dynamic, not the least of which is society’s consistent message that more stuff equates to more success and more importance (even if the stuff is hidden on the shelves of our closets).

Aside from the relentless push to amass a large volume of material wealth, we each grapple with our own unique brand of neurosis that plays into our attachments to certain objects. Whether it stems from anxiety, obsessive-compulsive thinking, a childhood filled with poverty and hunger, or an unconscious need to overcompensate for some perceived area of lack in our life, we each have a handful of individualized demons that perch themselves on that one shoulder and encourage us to forever hang on tightly to everything that is ours.

Our REAL Hang-Ups

I think we can all relate to at least one of the following reasons behind our collective struggle to let go of things.

• They have sentimental value: we attach things to memories, they remind us of people and experiences (we should try taking a picture of an item if we need more than a mental image of it in order to sleep at night).
• We feel guilty getting rid of them: we associate objects with loved ones and feel disloyal discarding them (we should sharpen our REAL perspective: are we REALly showing respect and gratitude by letting those things collect dust?).
• We worry we might need them again (we should get REAL honest with ourselves – when is the last time we truly needed them? Could that potential need be met another way?)
• We attach previously treasured (a.k.a. old) dreams and hopes to them (we should REALly think about this: do these items accurately represent the REAL lives we are looking to build now, today?).
• We saw the Toy Story movies too many times (we should be REAListic about what happens to objects after we discard them. We can curb the guilt and worry by recycling and giving away as much of it as we can).

We Can Inspire a New & REAL Legacy of Letting Go

 

Simplify before you solve.

Many people try to solve their most pressing issues and challenges from the same space that they were created in. Similarly, when it comes to setting intentions and goals, people attempt to add new dynamics and experiences to their existing situations.

In almost all cases, the common result is a sense of frustration and a gradual loss of momentum to do the work that supports their desired outcomes.

It is next to impossible to build a solid and sturdy structure onto a foundation that is rotting and weak in some areas. With a bit of re-organization and refinement, however, any foundation can be reinforced and renovated to support new designs and additions.

We can clear the way to build our REAL lives.

Clearing and purging combine to form the crucial first phase in any reinforcement and rebuilding process. Paving the way to intentionally construct our REAL lives is no exception. The acts of physically cleansing our living and working spaces and emptying them of no-longer-useful things serve as REAL-time training for the mental and emotional unblocking and releasing that awaits us a little further down the road.

We will begin with cleaning our outer, tangible spaces in a literal way, which will prime us for the future scrubbing up of behaviors, beliefs, and inner environments that we will eventually get to in the later phases of REAL-life detox.

This is transition training at its best, friends. True to the cornerstone approach that REAL living embodies, we will move forward at an easeful and manageable pace. We will fully embrace, yet not rush, the process of letting go.

Clearing the Trash to Make Room for the REAL Treasure: Detoxing Our Fridges, Closets, & Cupboards

We kicked off our REAL-life space detox ritual this week, and I am eager to share my approach and my subsequent learnings with you! I encourage you to share your insights and revelations with me as well. It is a REALly beautiful thing to be traveling on this journey together, and trading our thoughts and ideas along the way will help us all to grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A REAL Basic Approach

As I moved from space to space and assessed each item I came across, I paused and reflected upon the following:

• Do I see this being useful and valuable to the REAL life I am now creating?
• Will it fit into and support my vision for the new and improved experiences I will manifest in my REAL life?
• Does it/will it make my life easier and simpler?
• Does it make me feel good, content, happy, peaceful?
• Will I REALly need or use this a year from now? REALly?

A resounding yes? Great! Keep it, clean it, store it appropriately and in an organized way  (or perhaps bring it out into the open again).

A resounding no?  Options: throw it in a trash bag, a recycle bin, a donation box, or the Goodwill pile. Make the choice within 10-15 seconds, and move on.

A REAL Mindful Mindset

Every Sunday morning, I read one section of a wonderful little book I bought for myself over Thanksgiving weekend. It is called Joy in Every Moment: Mindful Exercises for Waking to the Wonders of Ordinary Life, by Tzivia Gover.

Right on time (of course), the section that was cued up for me to devour this past Sunday was all about creating and experiencing joy in one’s home. How fortuitous! The universe knows what we are up to (no surprise).

Gover encourages us to think of each room in our apartments, condos, or houses as representing our intention to feel truly at home in our hearts. Through that lens, we can mindfully refine and revise our spaces understanding that each of them is sacred ground and should contain only items and ambiance that inspire inner peace and joy.

With Gover’s suggestions in mind, I moved slowly and deliberately through my targeted spaces and silently cleared and cleansed led by the following thoughts:

• My refrigerator represents my desire to nourish my body in new ways and with more intention.
• My closets and cupboards demonstrate my commitment to securing only items that make my moments and days simpler and healthier, and allow me to function with increased ease and efficiency (efficiency being the gateway to a world in which I have additional time to spend in REAL ways).

As I dredged through my fridge, cabinets, closets, and drawers, I mentally poured every item I came across through the filters of the above criteria. I mindfully contemplated how I could change up each space to reflect peace, joy, and inspiration.

A REAL Appreciation for the Fringe Benefits of a REAL Space Detox Ritual

I knew going into this month-long ritual that the progressive cleansing and clearing would leave me feeling REALly inspired and organized, but I could not have predicted the additional positive side effects that sprung up and pleasantly surprised me throughout the process.

Clarity: When we feel clear, we are able to see ourselves and our lives with greater lucidity. We understand what is occurring for us and why, and we know what action to take to best honor our personal truth. Wiping away the fog and mess in our lives – from cleaning and clearing our homes, to cutting negative ties, to clearing away and replacing negative self-talk – allows us to return to our center and see our lives with full transparency.

Freedom: It is liberating and freeing to clear out and let go of the old and no longer useful junk. Starting with a clean slate offers a sense of both release and hope.

Productivity: Typically, our knee-jerk M.O. involves busying and distracting ourselves during time we would otherwise label as “spare.” The act of deliberate clearing and cleansing our physical spaces can help us meet ourselves in the middle. We can still do something that will keep us busy and can be categorized as productive, which satisfies our rational self. At the same time, we can approach the task in a mindful way, also using it as a chance for solitude, silence, and a sort of working meditation (which fuels our intuitive self).

Meditation & Mindfulness: The very act of cleaning and clearing can in itself turn into a subtle meditative exercise when done in solitude and relative silence. This approach can offer a chance for each of us to be with ourselves in a new way and unblock the invisible wall of busyness that keeps potentially profound insights from emerging.

Simplification– not only do we remove unnecessary and no-longer-useful items from our worlds through this ritual, but we organize what remains in a way that can create more ease in our days moving forward. As a result of cleansing and clearing, we have less to manage. Even better, what we do keep can be intentionally stored in a way that makes things easily accessible and simpler to manipulate, ultimately minimizing those tiny inconveniences and small – yet aggravating – complications that can sour our moments.

Charity: Our trash is likely another man’s treasure. Clearing and de-cluttering our spaces generate bags and boxes of items that may no longer be useful to us but might be needed and desired by someone else. We can shed our excess and give it to others who do not have enough.

A REAL Clear & Silent Space Can Speak Volumes

One week, six trash bags, three recycling bags, four donation bags, and one Goodwill box later, I stand in a clearer space with a lighter feeling and a renewed perspective. I have merely scratched the surface of my REAL space detox ritual, and I already sense the channels clearing.

I made the choice to cleanse, purge, and refine my first handful of targeted spaces in relative silence. Music was my only companion. Though there was no physical conversation, the areas I moved through did speak to me in very profound ways.

Through the forgotten items that I rediscovered, memories that were roused, and revelations that surfaced as I reflectively flowed through the process, my spaces communicated with me.

There were no words exchanged, but in the quiet and solitude I detected their sentiments with full clarity and awareness.

Cherish your friendships. Remember your ancestors.

Roll with the tide. Be the light.

Go on more picnics. Buy only clothes that express the REAL you.

Nourish your body. Uncomplicate your life.

Slow down. Be grateful. Let go.

 

As far as I am concerned, friends, my fridge and closets just spilled the REAL tea.

Join me next week to continue our REAL space detox ritual, and take another giant step closer to your REAL and authentic life.

Get REAL charged up about clearing your space and making room for your REAL authentic life in 2019. Check out more REAL resources in the library, and subscribe now to receive additional insights, inspirations, and videos!