What better way to feel lighter, fresher and more organized than decluttering. Everyone talks about Spring Cleaning, well I’m here to say Seasonal Purging is so much better. Autumn is about to set in, leaves are already falling, yet here on the west coast we had a 105 Degree day. So what better way to handle the heat than stay in the house to declutter and reorganize stuff. You may not think that is fun but it really was. We all hold onto stuff that either belonged to family or we just felt “if I keep, it my life would somehow be better”. Yes I’m still talking about stuff but also personal baggage that we carry around that doesn’t belong to us but we keep it. I’m here to say that when you start with just simply decluttering and reorganizing your material stuff, that it somehow starts to also unleash, declutter and organize other areas of your life. Now you might think I am kidding but try it!
You may be wondering how decluttering and reorganizing may be counted as Self Help, well have you ever cleaned your closets, donated the clothes and just felt free and lighter, that’s a form of helping yourself to be the best that you can be. When the closet is empty and you get to put back in the clothes and shoes that you consciously chose to keep, something also changes in your mind and the energy of the space. Feel that space just clear and open up in your life. They say we store everything that we own in part of our brain, like recalling that red suit I wore to my friend’s wedding and keeping it next to the jacket my Mom gave to me before she got sick. Those examples tied those clothes to memories that somehow gave them more importance in my exploding closet. Some may even go a step further and say they cannot get rid of stuff because it has a memory linked to it. I’m here to say, keep the memories and free the stuff. The memories won’t clutter your physical space in your home. When we hold onto all the stuff we don’t have the space to grow, change and evolve into who we truly are meant to be or do. Have you ever wanted to have people come over and then realize that all the stuff had made you uncomfortable to invite them. All the stuff gets in the way more than we think, I promise you that I personally experienced this many times. Forcing the kids to hurry and pick up their stuff, cleaning like a mad woman and always having to close my closet etc. Sometimes even apologizing for my stuff/home before they even got in the door. Well that also takes up space in your mind and body and also subconscious. Let me tell you how free I feel after a good Seasonal Purge/Spring Cleaning. Honestly I believe everyone has felt that freedom and feeling once in their life. Then I just want to open my home to everyone. I’m feeling proud, free, organized and just “adulting like a boss”. Don’t you want to feel that all the time? I have the answer, you totally can do it!
Baby steps! Don’t be like me, “Imma clean the whole entire house today”, that is an absolute failure waiting to happen. Half way through I’m like playing with stuff, trying on clothes, glasses, jewelry, looking at cards , trying on hats…. lol
So break it down into bite size chunks, per hour, per day or whatever works for you. I literally gutted my kitchen, I placed plastic on the counter top, and by sections I pulled everything out of the cabinets. Starting with the seasonings, throwing out expired and then I literally had none left. I decided that if I cleaned a few cabinets out then I would buy myself a spice rack. So that’s what I did.
I don’t know about you but I love me some kitchen gadgets and cooking utensils. I cleaned out the drawers next. Placing the gadgets and utensils that I didn’t need into a bag for the thrift store. Then finished and moved to pots and pans, then to my huge bakeware collection
After bags and bags of things I no longer needed were loaded into my car, I dropped them off at the Thrift store donations bins. I don’t know about you but that felt excellent! I then swung by the store and picked up a brand new spice rack and waaalaaaa my kitchen felt so new, awesome and I even have free shelves. Funny thing, I’m kicking myself for not taking a before photo so that you could see the dramatic difference, but mostly so you can see that I am as human as everyone else and I never claim to be perfect but a work in progress. I feel that I have freed space up for more greatness in my life that is not for just “stuff”, but for more memories of adventures and friends over. I hope that you found motivation in my little blog and please share any progress in decluttering and organizing your own space.
Tomorrow I shall tackle the rest of my closets without playing dress up in all my costumes…. I need to say “TRY” LOL. HAVE A GREAT TIME and Declutter more than just your stuff, make more memories.😁
Rebecca4SelfHelp 