Spring into March by De-cluttering and making room for the new!

Did you ever walk into a space that just didn’t feel right? Was it the color of the walls? Was the furniture placed in a tight, cramped arrangement? Were the ceilings too high? Was the space cluttered, or did the room have an odor? All animate and inanimate objects affect our senses, because everything contains energy.

The Chinese Art of Placement, commonly referred to in the Western World as “The Feel of a Place”, dictates – what surrounds us affects us, both mentally and physically. The principals correlate health, wealth, and happiness with how we design and decorate our home and work environments.

The guidelines prescribe that our homes are a metaphor for our lives. These ancient principals have evolved, and are now being used as an integrated, wholistic approach to contemporary, sustainable design in the health care industry as well as hospitality, residential, and commercial environments. The positive effects have been amazing!

Home Sense

Clearing the clutter is the first step to upgrading your “home sense”. America’s number one challenge is to rid ourselves of disorder and confusion. We all have this chaos in our lives, whether it is physical or emotional. The initial objectives that need to be addressed are identifying what is clutter, where is it in your home, and most importantly, how does it affect our everyday lives?
The definition of clutter is to coagulate. It is stagnant energy that blocks movement, which causes us to retain bad memories, and negatively affects our existence. While the purposeful item continues to support our wellbeing, the rejected items take on a life of their own. They bring on feelings of guilt, obligation and the fear of needing for the future. In comparison, objects that are appreciated, loved, and used have a strong vital energy that supports our emotional responses. These objects add purpose to our lives and usually reflect a happy memory.

The physiological and psychological effect of clutter in any area of our lives is depleting. Order and simplicity promotes rest for the nervous system. Objects from the past that are not loved or used tend to make you look back rather than forward. You have to release the past to create a better tomorrow. The spaces where clutter exists in our homes can influence different life experiences and results. It is important to surround yourself with items you love, so that the” felt” experience is uplifting and harmonious. Remember all things that surround us affect us. Here are a few tips on how you can incorporate some simple changes to your environment to benefit your well-being.

So let’s start listing the effects of clutter, so that you can start identifying them in your life

• Makes you feel disorganized and/or like a failure
• Limits your time
• Creates chaos in your life
• Can be depressing
• Makes you feel physically and emotionally heavy; it may even manifest as excess body weight
• The more stuff you have the more you are in service to it. Do you own things or do they own   you?
• Makes it difficult to breathe
• Makes you feel exhausted
• Keeps you emotionally bound to the past
• In hallways, can restrict arteries, can clog the body and its lymphatic system
• Under the bed, can affect your sleeping
• On the floor, can pull your energy down
• Overhead, can cause depression or headaches

Here are some common reasons why we keep clutter

• I keep it just in case
• I’m going to fix it someday
• I spent a lot of money on it
• It was a gift
• I inherited it
• It’s from a previous relationship

Check the list below to locate clutter in your home and how it may influence your life

Objects that are disorganized
• Life works better when we know where things are. How much time is wasted looking for things?

Too Many Things in a Small Space
• This will slow down the flow of energy and create a “stuck” feeling. How we move about our space is how we move through life.

Unfinished Projects
• Things that are left undone in your home represent “things” undone in your life. Examples of unfinished projects that deplete your energy are: leaky pipe, broken appliance, telephone calls that need to be returned.

Basement Clutter symbolizes your past and our subconscious
• Hopelessness, lethargy, feeling burdened
• Lack of air circulation

Attic Clutter can restrict your higher aspirations and possibilities
• Creates a false limitation
• Worry about the future

Main Entrance Clutter represents your approach to the world
• Restricts the flow of opportunity
• Clutter wedged behind the door

Bedroom Clutter – A dumping ground here means you are treating yourself like a second-class citizen.
• Stale energy hangs around dirty laundry

Are you ready to make a change? Here is a vital tip on how you can incorporate a change to your environment to benefit your well-being.

Use the 3 box solution to rid you of clutter:

Use a timer and set at 1hour intervals.
Label one box” I Don’t Know”.
Label one box” Keep it”.
Label one box “Pass It On”.

Start at the left hand corner of your room. Fill each box, as appropriate. Close up the, “I Don’t Know Box”.  Wait a half hour and return to the box, ask yourself if you can name one thing that you placed in the” I Don’t Know Box”.  If you cannot, then pass on with good cheer.  As each box gets filled remove from the space. The “Keep It Box”, place in storage for further use and move the other boxes into the garage for distribution.

Enjoy the process as it brings a sense of inner peace.

Mary Dennis, EDAC