| It is a public holiday here in NZ and so I’m taking the easy option tonight and cutting and pasting an interesting post from else where 🙂
So after a weekend reflexology course which focused on the Digestive system and the importance of letting go, both physically (elimination) and mentally I thought this newsletter was a good follow up.
It isn’t Spring here, although the weather has been particularly nice to us lately, but a good clear out is great to do any time – you just need to be willing! |
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Inspiration and Transformation Newsletter Spring Cleaning © Lynne Namka, Ed. D. Life is full of choices where we can seek to go with what is REAL and TRUTH or when we go down the false road. Our experiences color the values that we give to objects and ideas. In today’s world, we are bombarded with stimuli and stuff! Our brains are over-loaded with commercials, unnecessary details, worn out ideas, experiences, and traumas of the past. No wonder everyone seems to be having memory problems. There is just too much stuff, both inner and outer! The clutter can be emotional baggage of the mind left over from old worries, stubbornness, rigidity, fears and unresolved childhood issues. It can be obsessions or addictions. Clutter of the mind can be the false gods of possession, materialism, or a closed mind. Unnecessary baggage is that which we cling to but has no real meaning. At times we give in and take the easy way out and choose other false gods–the superficial, the addictions and dysfunctional relationships. As Harrison said, it is all in the mind. Clutter makes us feel overwhelmed and stuck. It weighs us down. We feel encumbered. Henry David Thoreau reminded us that “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life, which is required to be exchanged for it immediately or in the long run.” The clutter can be physical possessions in terms of dispensable objects, bulging closets, overstuffed files and just plain junk! Possessions can be functional and necessary or they can simple be a leftover accumulation of a lifetime. Possessions cost us. Life can become cluttered. That which is unnecessary becomes heavy and time consuming. We pay too much of our energy to maintain it. Much of what we own is just unnecessary clutter. What we possess, we exchange our energy for. Arthur Dirkman speaks of the “I of possession.” “I want–energy going into possession. I will–energy of intention put of work collecting. I have–energy goes into maintaining.” We are an accumulation of all that we have experienced in our life time. At times we get bogged down with stuff and with outdated ideas. We can’t pick up and carry everything with us. Some causes, friends, possessions and ideas must be dropped along the way. Hopefully, we learn to let go of unimportant things. Hopefully, we choose to carry the real instead of the imitation. Hopefully we hang on to those things which represent our true self. Maturity is a test of selection; knowing which values, ideas, people and objects with which to surround ourself. Sometimes we just need a good spring housecleaning. As Richard Cambridge said, “What is the worth of anything, but for the happiness ‘twill bring’?” What is needed is a good sorting, throwing away and scrubbing of the mental and physical clutter in our lives. We need to clear the cobwebs, dust the corners, shake out the rugs and rearrange the furniture in our minds. With positive intent, we can become unencumbered. The resulting feelings can be relief and freedom. I always smile when my clients tell me that they started cleaning out their closets or garage. I know the ritual of Spring Cleaning, even if it is done at any time of the year, is a splendid metaphor for the mental housecleaning that the person is doing in therapy. Wisdom is acquiring the discrimination of choosing the REAL from the false gods. This is discernment. The discernment of knowing what is right and true for us comes from a greater source of wisdom that we tap into. You can find the true desires in your life, rather than that which just catches your eye because it is shiny and glitter. You can choose the substantial, not the fluff. If you allow some quiet time in your life, you can listen to that inner wisdom that tells you when you are finished with something. Through quiet sitting or meditation, you can sort out the unnecessary, the dispensable, and the clutter. Inner clutter, outer clutter, it is all the same with the sorting out process. So do your Spring Cleaning with vigor and excitement about what you will find out about yourself. Sit quietly and ask for discernment about what is necessary and important for you to release. And while you are there, drop down into your longing. Do you yearn for a simpler life? Numerous charitable organizations are there to help you out by relieving you of your outdated physical possessions. And the inner clutter is merely fear beliefs that are asking you to bring them to the Light. The gift is a release from the conflict that clutter brings. In a quiet space in a corner of your mind that connects with the Greater Whole, you can find your own TRUTH. And that is real. That alone is your truest possession. Peace and Joy, Lynne
Arohanui Y. |
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