I was recently reading one of my favorite authors, Mark Nepo, as he described lack of clarity as a muddy river. The muddy river is a helpful metaphor to illustrate how clutter can run through our minds, our homes and our business. Standing in a muddy river, everything seem so unclear, which can cloud our actions and decisions.
When you’re stuck in a muddy river and unclear how to move forward, find stillness.
Our vision, inspiration and flow of life become clouded when we are unclear about the stuff that surrounds us in our homes and lives. Like a fast running current, we can’t see the bottom. The silt and rushing waters make it virtually impossible to find our ground. When we are uncertain we can become stuck!
I might risk dipping my toe into the running waters, right on the edge, while feeling safe from the vantage of the shore. Stop and take it in. Inch by inch trust your feelings, and sensations. Act based feelings rather than making decisions based on external forces.
[bctt tweet=”Our feelings are our most trustworthy guide as we move through the process of letting go” username=”hkpowerstudio”] (of clutter, of grief, of old patterns).
How do we get unstuck? By learning to trust our feelings. It doesn’t always come naturally. Our culture teaches us to lead with thought, not feeling! This is when it’s most important to stop, cut through the thoughts. Pay attention to what is underlying and recognize how we feel.
When we pick up a sentimental item, can we identify the feeling that object evokes? Is it joy, bitterness, saddness, or nostalgia? Does it evoke memories; good-bad or mixed? It’s important to invite and honor how we feel about our stuff. By doing so, we can take honest action in the decisions we make about keeping or getting rid of stuff.
The muddy river metaphor as tool…
Setting our intention is a helpful tool when we begin to make decisions about releasing clutter. Once we are more in tune with our feelings we can decide how we want space to feel. We create that space and those feelings by making decisions and only allowing what evokes those feeling into our space.
Setting an intention is as simple as deciding and acting from a place of alignment!
The process of getting clear about your clutter might proceed something like this:
- Go into a clutter filled space with a journal or piece of paper to take notes.
- Sit in the space for about 5-10 minutes and notes how the space feels. What emotions come up?
- Pick up objects and invite a response based on how you feel. This is like testing the waters. Some people are physically impacted by touching items, others are more visual. It’s good to try both and take notes on how yoyu respond.
- Decide how you WANT to feel in the space. Write down these feelings and set an intention to create that feeling!
- Begin the process of clearing objects and clutter that are not in alignment with your intentions and how you want to feel.
Use the muddy river metaphor to help you gain clarity in your decision making process. When we understand how clutter makes us feel, we can act on decision making from a place of intention. We then create a space that reflects the feelings we want rather than being stuck with what we have unintentionally created by indecision.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or not sure where to begin and need some guidance with this process, please email me to schedule a call so we can talk more about how I can help.
In the meantime you might want to check out my Clutter Action Plan!