Recently I went on a manic “clear the clutter” blitz of my apartment. While the blitz started off as a procrastination tactic it ended up being a perfect reminder of how much my creativity and thought process is impacted by what’s going on in my physical space.
I am in the midst of a transition, and I am often bombarded by thoughts like “What am I doing with my life?” “Where am I going?” “Why aren’t I clearer about what I want?” These are weighty and overwhelming thoughts, and they often get me stuck in neutral with no sense of how to move forward.
Desperate to shake off this “stuck” energy I broke away from my brooding one afternoon and took apart my kitchen. Over the next week that was followed by a blitz of my closet, bathroom, laundry room and office. When I started in on my office I felt such a huge sense of overwhelm. How was I going to tackle all the binders, the paperwork, the miscellaneous though possibly useful bits and bobs I had accumulated in my desk drawers?
I wanted to stop as soon as I started. But I didn’t. I chunked the room down and took one area at a time. Before I knew it hours had passed, and I had shredded hundreds of papers, emptied a good 30 binders, had 7 bags of garbage and a huge stack of office supplies to donate. Feeling the resistance and overwhelm then chunking down the project to something that felt manageable was hugely empowering and liberating.
I know that everything is energy, and this clear the clutter blitz was such a wonderful reinforcement of that knowledge. The weight that I felt lifted off of me when I cleared out and de-cluttered an area of my home felt amazing. To let go of “stuff” that had sat stagnant in my home, untouched and unused was extremely cleansing.
While I still have not fully answered the questions that have been looming over me, I can unequivocally say that clearing some of the physical clutter in my life has helped to loosen my thoughts and open up my creativity.
I know I feel alive when my creativity is being fed, and I know that my creativity cannot bloom when I am carrying around sluggish, heavy energy. Feeling open, lighter, less encumbered is a far more productive and fruitful place from which to contemplate Life’s big (or small) choices.
5 Takeaways from Clearing the Clutter :
- Everything is energy. Shifting physical “stuff” frees up my energy on an emotional, mental and spiritual level.
- If an area of my life feels stagnant it is helpful to look at what might be stagnant in my physical environment.
- Remember that clearing stuck physical energy always helps me unstick in other areas.
- When the idea of de-cluttering seems overwhelming, chunk it down and make the idea manageable.
- Each action, however small, is action and action breeds more action and more action breeds momentum.
- Creativity cannot bloom in stagnant soil.