Clutter, Peace, and a Lighter Spirit

     My spirit felt heavy. I couldn’t seem to write and no reading material held my interest. I felt bogged down by life.

     My intuition told me to clean.

     I had items the kids had left, thinking they would want them some day. To my surprise, I found out they didn’t. I started looking around my home, realizing that I had stuff that meant nothing anymore. Suddenly, I felt energized to get rid of stuff. Heaviness became my decider. Does this item weigh me down, or does it make me smile and feel lighter?

     The turning point involved oriental rugs. Years ago, my husband and I had gotten carried away at an auction, coming home with rugs to use on our beautiful wood floors. I loved most of them; however, two were not needed and ended up stored in the basement. As I continued to donate, I paused in the basement, looking at these two extra rugs. They took up a lot of space even rolled up. A sudden realization came to me. Just because we spent the money fifteen years ago, we didn’t have to keep them. I realized, with amazement, that I had been punishing myself for making a bad money decision. Moving them around and trying desperately to keep them out of the way, had become routine. It wasn’t a life sentence for goodness sake.

     I thought how nice it would be for someone to find these at the thrift store. It was actually exciting and liberating to let them go. It spurred me on.

     I filled bags with clothes that other people could be wearing. I pulled books off shelves, deciding I didn’t have to keep any that I didn’t love. I had been forcing myself to read books to further my knowledge, but they weren’t giving me pleasure. What was that about? I took many bags to the used bookstore.

     I cleaned off my desk, shredded, and filed papers. It became easier to work. One day, turning on my computer, I realized that I hated some of the social media sites I was on. I stayed with the sites I enjoyed and said goodbye to the rest.

     Everything has energy and the energy from items no longer loved, was heavy and sad. As I cleared space, my spirit was lightening. I felt a new sense of peace.

     I feel as if I can breathe more easily. The heaviness has lifted and I can concentrate and think creatively again. I’m reading books that give me pleasure. I realize now that life clutter was invading my insides as it invaded the outside.

     I had been choosing to keep things in my life that were actually harming me and affecting my happiness. Too much is too much no matter what it is.

     I think we do this with relationships, habits, and our personal spaces. Is anything weighing you down? If your spirit feels heavy, it may be time for a little cleaning.