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Cleaning Up:  Cleaning your way to clarity  |
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dg7954
True Blue Farmgirl
129 Posts
Diane
Doylestown
pa
USA
129 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 09:30:42 AM
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| I read somewhere, a while ago, that, if your life issues are chaotic, the first step to clarity is to organize your enviroment. This has been so true for me. Firstly, organizing anything is therapeutic. It has a tremendous effect on calming you down, and reassuring you that you have control over something. When I first started to practice this, I organized my kitchen pantry. It gave me so much pleasure when I was finished, that I found myself visiting it, just to look at my work. It was like I had one safe haven to come to where everything looked just right, and I felt calm and pleased with myself. I started reorganizing more. This calming effect just grew, and even better, I could find things so easily. I have made this my regular practice. When I have a puzzle in life to figure out, I start taking drawers apart, throwing things out, and straightening up. It is a form of meditation for me (along with knitting and painting). The effect is different though, because creating order is so powerful. I get the same feeling when, if I am sitting in a room and looking around, if everything is in its place, it calms me down and gives me an organized way to look at life. It is like an equation. If your life is whirling around you with no real balance, take a look at your enviroment. If it too is piled up with chaos, you will be looking for things the same way you are searching for answers...in a big mess. |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 11:02:18 AM
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| I completely agree with you. I am going through some big decisions right now and I went on a major cleaning/organzing/decluttering sweep the other day. I am about 25% done with the house but just walking in to a neater/cleaner house has helped me think clearer and I don't feel as sluggish. Can't wait to see how I feel when I get the whole house done!!! I think of it as making room for the new... |
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lareyna
True Blue Farmgirl
242 Posts
Arlene
Valley Ford
Ca
USA
242 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 12:43:45 PM
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What a great inspiration for me, my "clutter" is due to a very small living environment along with a very busy life, I will have 3-4 WEEKS off work due to the jail taking that long to do background checks I think I will try one room at a time, maybe just rotate my things from the barn that have never all fit here, we had to move from our 3 bedroom with family room to 2 bedroom due to my MIL's illness and the need to live close, I haven't had all my things since '99 and I am so missing my old treadle sewing machine etc
http://bumpercrop.blogspot.com/
I was Country before Country was COOL |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 12:56:12 PM
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Funny you should bring this up.
I was talking to a friend yesterday, who has had horrible luck ever since she moved into this house that she really despises. There is no place to put anything, the house has what we call "ickies" from the last people there. Kinda like my current house that we are moving out of tomorrow and into the MIL suite we just remodeled - this house had drunk people in it before, they apparently drank a lot, the house is dirty, things are broken... it's just got "ickies." Plus, some of the things in the home have "ickies" from her husband's first (failed) marriage... things that should not be there, because that is what they represent.
We were talking about evaluating things in your home, and not keeping things that have any "ickies." Or things that remind you of someone or something bad. This isn't constructive to have those kinds of things in your home, and as we talked, I immediately thought of something I have that I have kept from someone who later turned out to not be a nice person. Should I really be keeping such an item?
Anyway, I got to thinking about folks I know whose houses are completely cluttered. Every surface stacked with papers and toys and STUFF. And I know for myself, as soon as I walk into a house like that, I feel stress. All those things on the table say "sort me, put me away" as do the toys and other clutter. It drives me nuts. And I know, if my house were like that, it would affect how I react to my husband, how I respond to him, or even our dogs, because I would have this "nagging stuff" all over the place. I cannot stand untidiness, my house always has things put exactly (or nearly perfectly) in its place.
Where the conversation got to was: you home should be YOUR PLACE. It is more than a place to sleep. It is where you go to interact with your family, plan your life, dream your dreams, pay your bills... For me, I also add an old martial arts principle to it. When you enter the dojo, you leave the world behind you. As soon as that door closes, the rest of the world ceases to exist, and you are free to concentrate on learning. I think of my home that way too. The door closes, and work, social issues, and whatnot stay out there. I'll pick them up on my way out the door. When I think of that principle, I feel a strengthening in my gut, like I have my inner strength back, and it is all me, and I can handle anything.
If there is an aspect of your home you do not like, whether it is the entrance (which I feel is equally important, how you feel as you approach your door affects how you feel as you enter your home), or an ugly countertop... something that is not YOU and does not appeal to you in any way, it needs to be changed, or covered, so you do not think on it and it does not distract you from enjoying your home. |
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dg7954
True Blue Farmgirl
129 Posts
Diane
Doylestown
pa
USA
129 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 3:29:59 PM
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| Lynn, I totally agree with this theory. As for the object that turned out to be from a not-so-nice person, I think all things carry an energy. If the object "feels" negative to you, by all means get rid of it. I'm sure it does not lend itself to the principles of Feng Shui. I think you are very right about your home being your base of strength (I always think of Tara from Gone With the Wind) and comfort. It is the foundation for your life. It should only have things in it that make you feel good in some way. |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2005 : 11:59:52 PM
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| Oddly enough, the "Home as Refuge" ideal was just what the Victorians were trying to create when they cluttered the heck out of their homes at the Turn of the Century! |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Oct 09 2005 : 06:36:48 AM
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| OK, so there's clutter and then there's Clutter! My definition of clutter is: piles of junk mail, old magazines, things that need action (bills to be paid, clothes needing mending, etc.), projects that somehow spread over room/s for two weeks and still are not done, cereal box not put back after my husband has some cereal for dessert (oops! didn't need to name names!), dirty dishes not in dishwasher (or in my sink -- no dishwasher here except me) or clean dishes not put away, unfolded laundry. The list goes on. What is not clutter is the stuff I love -- my bowls, my vintage garden things, my family pictures -- in carefully arranged vignettes or tucked away in the corner cupboard. Books on shelves or in the reading corner are not clutter. Magazines piled (not too many!) on the coffeetable-trunk are not clutter. So my 'Home as Refuge' does include my stuff -- things that give me pleasure when I find them, bring them home, arrange them. But real clutter -- well that just makes me nuts. |
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dg7954
True Blue Farmgirl
129 Posts
Diane
Doylestown
pa
USA
129 Posts |
Posted - Oct 10 2005 : 7:34:00 PM
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| Lareyna, I read that you are about to work at a prison facility. This is big thing to take on, as I am sure you are well aware. I want to write to you and tell you to be careful about the energy you are about to expose yourself to for long periods of time. People do not think about it a lot, but energy is everything. You are about to surround yourself with the energy of people that have had difficult and painful lives, abuse, anger, violence, etc. in other words, very negative energy. Living with this type of low energy is draining, destructive, and can make you ill. I am not telling you this to talk you out of your job, but there are ways to protect yourself from the effects of this type of energy. There are meditations of protection, books about blocking energy, and (I know this might sound weird) the wearing of silver (especially on the left side of the body) can help as well. Please read up on what you can do to keep yourself from being affected by this constant negative exposure. If anyone else has some suggestions, I hope they write to you. Take care. |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Oct 10 2005 : 8:33:32 PM
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It's funny that I should come across this post now. My house which we have only lived in for a couple of months has LOTS of "ickies." The dirt and stuff that was left inside the house and out has been overwhelming to me. And of course there are the things that I brought with me that I've also been thinking about because they remind me of someone who brought negative things into my life or because they remind me of some part of myself that I've tried to leave behind or overcome. So, all those things are going a little at a time from a robe that reminds me of someone I don't like anymore to the "scrunge" in the overflow drain of the bathroom sink. I've been using flylady.com to help me break all of this down into doable jobs and it's been great. Just going to bed knowing that my sink will be clean, shiny and empty when I start my day in the morning has been such a help to my energy level and peace of mind.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
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Cleaning Up: Cleaning your way to clarity |
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Cleaning your way to clarity
