GETTING RID OF THE CLUTTER

Little did I know that I would be leaping into an adventure for a year long study of living Ayurvedically when I started decluttering my closets and environment.  I will share much more about my upcoming journey in future blog posts.

For now, whether it is your office space, your closet, your car or your overall life - 

Spring is a great time to Get Rid of the Clutter.  

You will feel a sense of openness and freedom, renewal and power.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had massively purged the contents of my closets.  I am so happy that I did it.  Every day, life is a little easier because of it.

Danielle LaPorte described a method that really hit home with me, in her book The Desire Map.  She contends that we all should pay more attention to how we want to feel everyday, and I agree.  Whether our health, our bodies, our clothes or the environment we live or work in, how we feel is as important as what we want to accomplish or what image we want to present.

For the closet purge in particular, I spent about 1/2 hour thinking about how I would like to feel each morning when I got dressed.  I wrote down a list of more than 20 words, as Danielle suggests - writing everything down that pops into your head at first.

I then looked over the words a bit to see where there were similarities or where I could be more descriptive.  

For example, saying you want to feel ‘successful’  when you get dressed - what does that really mean to you?  Do you like the “powerful” aspect of success or the “freedom” aspect of success or the “confidence” aspect of success or the “leadership” aspect? She advises to think about more clearly stating the feeling we are really going after to make you feel good in the morning. 

I then put aside the list and the next day looked at the list again, seeing which words really seemed to speak to me and feel right. I circled those words.

I had the list narrowed to 8 words.  The goal is to get 3-4 words that describe just how you want to feel.  With my 8 words, I started looking them up in the dictionary to see exactly what they meant.  For me the definitions were enlightening, because I could choose a more obscure meaning of the word that really fit me.  

Once I had my three words, the fun really began.  I examined every single item in my closet and had a Give Away pile, a pile on my bed of things to try on and then a save and keep section of the closet.  

I literally tossed as fast as I could anything that didn’t match at least two of my three words.  I later neatly organized the Give Away piles - and there were overflowing mounds of clothes and shoes - some in the back of the closet that I hadn’t worn in years but kept saving ‘in case’ or for ‘someday’ - I had ‘fat clothes’ and ‘skinny’ clothes and ‘power suits’ and clothes with tags still on that had not been worn in more than a year of owning them.  Can you relate?

I realized that most of my clothes were not making me feel the way I wanted to feel when I got dressed.  I had jam packed closets and yet I often struggled with ‘what to wear?’ issues.  Ever have the same issue?

Affluence is one of my words.  For my way of looking at it, affluence is about quality, abundantly free flowing ideas, generosity and creative outpouring.  

I felt extremely affluent in the form of generosity, as I donated hundreds of items from my closet that were not being used by me and could be daily used by someone else.  I also felt affluent in the form of quality, when I finally got rid of clothes with spots, tears and in general disrepair. 

The best benefit of this exercise was the elimination of my daily ritual of disliking how I looked over and over, while trying on numerous outfits that didn’t really look great on me or that didn't fit me very well.  Getting dressed in the morning was filled with more angst than pleasure and in the end my choice felt like one of resignation, rather than joy.  

Giving away anything that did not make me feel Fit, Feminine and Affluent (my words) really cleared out space in my closet AND I have no clothes left that are not in good repair, fit me well and that I truly like and feel good in.  

I can’t feel bad about any choice I make, because my closet now only has good choices. 
It’s empowering to make good choices.

I save a substantial amount of time getting dressed too.  My clothes are easy to see with space between each item, and I know whatever I choose will make me feel how I want to feel.  The space and the time saving are very freeing to me.

So whether it’s your closet, your home, your car or if you want an office that makes you feel like a Leader or Powerful or maybe Welcoming or Friendly - spend the time to get rid of things that don’t add to how you want to feel.  

It may take you a few days, but every day for the rest of the year you will feel good about your decluttering effort.  Along with feeling good will come empowerment, freedom and a sense of renewal.  

I wanted to feel good about the start of my day when I got dressed in the morning.  Looking a little deeper, I  realized that feeling affluence, fitness and femininity were in synch with me feeling loving, healthy and happy - a Great Start to my day:)

I’d love to hear about your DeCluttering experience.  Please share.

Please let me know if you have comments or an issue you'd like me to write about.  

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