Yesterday as I listened to one of my favorite radio stations (The Oprah channel on XM) there was a discussion about cleaning out closets and cupboards in your home. The people talking on the Dr. Oz Show were discussing how the weight of clutter can literally weigh you down emotionally. They were recommending that people clean out their closets and clean up their lives. While this sounds simple and easy, I can attest to the fact that it is not. First you have your family that is leaving, tossing, and forgetting clutter everywhere. Second, I tend to heap and pile things on the shelves and floors of my closets, since we have limited storage space in our home. While I hate clutter, sometimes it is just easier then fighting with everyone and everything, As much as I would like to be clutter free, my family keeps dragging me back.
I am a clutter hater. It drives me nuts when my family leaves things lying around, and do not get me started on all the papers everywhere once school starts. Just walking into my girls rooms when they are a mess puts me in a tail spin, so I found myself nodding and agreeing with pretty much everything that was said on the radio. What struck me the most as I listened to the discussion was that it is not always physical clutter that can stress me out, it is emotional clutter too. I seem to deal best with all of the matters in my life fitting into a nice neat category, when that does not happen, that can add to my stress. Over the last year and a half I have been challenged by all the emotional clutter that has reared its ugly head. During the radio interview and discussion yesterday, I found myself visualizing combing through my brain and tossing things out. I was pretty much organizing and tidying up my brain.
It is time to let some of the emotional baggage that I have packed away go. Like any cleaning and sorting process though, I am still picking up each item and turning it around and deciding if I still need it or not. Some items I am keeping for sentimental reasons, and some items I am just not ready to part with yet. I am not going to move quickly as I work my way through my brain, because I might make a mistake and pitch something I will regret losing later. Already, I have released the anger I had towards my Dad for the things he did before and after my Mom died. While the anger is gone, it is still hard to completely forgive him; I know that will come in time. Let's see, what else is in here… Oh here is a random memory of my Mom that I think I will keep, and a small memory of regret that I need to get rid of. This will be a slow process, but I look forward to it. I am ready to be clutter free.
I know that there will be more heaps and piles thrown at me in the years ahead, so I must make room for them. Regardless if it is physical clutter or emotional clutter I believe a good cleaning never hurts. I do not need an expert to tell me that, I figured it out a long time ago. The trick is getting my family on board, that will be the hard part!
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