Clearing Clutter

I have spent much of the last ten days clearing clutter in all areas of my life. Since returning to daily meditations I generally feel a strong urgency for cleansing and clearing, and I feel that clearing the clutter and the space around me is a necessary preparation for a thorough cleaning of my body, mind and spirit. So while I am still going through some ego struggles and procrastination tendencies I have started frenetic activities to get rid of clutter everywhere – in my notebook, my office and all around our house.

These are tips for effectively clearing clutter that I find helpful:

1. Get rid of it instantly! Clutter cannot accumulate if it’s taken care of immediately. Recycle, donate or throw away every object instantly that you don’t really need or want in your life.
2. Simplicity is beauty! In our western lifestyles we tend to accumulate so many things that we don’t really need. Leading interior designers and architects show us how beautiful simplicity is. Simplify your life and your space!
3. Does it make your heart sing? According to a famous quote by William Morris we should only keep in our house what is either useful or beautiful. If you have a hard time deciding if you really want to keep something just ask yourself “does it make my heart sing”? If your honest answer is no, get rid of it. This is one of several great tips I found at the Calm Space.
4. Step by step! When clearing the space around you it doesn’t matter where you start, just take one step at a time. Completely de-clutter one drawer, one cupboard, one room at a time, then move on.
5. Don’t forget the invisible clutter! Unfinished business, projects and relationships cause visible and also invisible clutter in the form of stuck energy. There’s also invisible internal clutter that comes from negative thoughts, memories, emotions, and from other people that drag you down energetically. Become award of the invisible clutter in your life and get rid of it, too!

Clutter tends to never stop accumulating, like dust on the shelves. Thus, clearing it is a never-ending process that I have struggled with for a long time. When I was 17 I had my first own one-room apartment, after a year or so it was filled to the max with clutter. I disliked all cleaning chores and it took strong concerted efforts with the help of good friends to get rid of all that clutter again, some of it stayed with me for many more years. It’s time now to embrace the chore of continuously clearing clutter, and to get rid of all remaining clutter in my life. It may take a while – the more I clear the more I realize there is – but I’ll get it done!

Energetically I feel the accumulated clutter like a darkish weight on my feet that drains me and restricts my movements. Not a nice feeling, that’s why it feels so good getting rid of it. I literally feel much lighter, like having lost many kilos, after dumping a carload of accumulated garbage or deleting tens of thousands of unwanted emails from my inbox.