Spring is a Time for Decluttering Physical and Mental Space

DEP Spring Contest Prompt: How spring inspires you?

Today was a beautiful day. I could feel the warmth in my bones, a nostalgic reminder of the tropical country I grew up in before being transplanted to the city I currently reside in, and the seemingly endless winters.

This afternoon, the welcome sunshine and a nagging urge to be out and about rather than being cooped up inside prompted me to enjoy a walk without feeling guilty about the work deadlines bearing down like a freight train.

I’m glad I did for it was just what the doctor ordered.

For the first half hour of my walk, I just focused on my breathing and being in the moment, and then when I was sufficiently relaxed I started to observe other things in and around me:

The freshness of the air I was breathing.

The movement of my hands and feet.

The joyful chirping of the birds was clearly audible over the humdrum.

Everywhere signs of life slowly rousing and shaking off the sluggishness from a deep winter slumber.

Halfway into my walk, my mind started to drift and I did not push it or brush away the thoughts that intruded. I let the emotions associated with them wash over me. Acknowledging and accepting them for what they are. Not trying to justify, rationalize or overthink why they were there in the first place.

Because some things you just have no control over and it’s not your fault that you felt them deep within your soul. They happen and before you know it, that season is over and you realize that you have reached yet another fork in the path called life. But choose you must, however hard that decision may be, because there is no other way but forward.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic and debilitating condition, some years ago and it set into motion several life-changing events that were both very painful and liberating at the same time.

In hindsight, I have realized that things had to happen in a certain way for other, better things to manifest. Am I simplifying things or trying to rationalize things? Probably. After all, that is what we humans tend to do — rationalize things.

For example, at the time the divorce papers were filed, I was overweight and balding from the stress I had undergone over years of marital discord and the chronic ailment I was suffering from.

One could say I look nothing like the person I am today.

Perhaps one could also say that I rose above my circumstances to live my best life and you wouldn’t be too far off from the mark but the truth is it took not just willpower to get me to where I am today.

I have to give credit to my parents for their support as well as to a few steadfast friends. But most of all, I am grateful for the burning desire within me to want to get through those dark times and to just put them in the rearview mirror. And I was willing to do the necessary work to get me back on track even though I had to make some pretty tough decisions such as ruthlessly decluttering my physical and mental space.

Spring season is oftentimes viewed as a time for renewal, reinvigoration, and personal growth. I like to think of spring as a time for tending our personal garden and a time to shed the skin of the old you and be reborn in sync with this season where the circle of life is starting anew.

In a previous article of mine titled ‘My Experience with Broken Heart Syndrome,’ I talked about how decluttering both my physical and mental space helped me get a fresh start on life. The wonderful thing is I still adhere to these strategies when tending to my personal garden as they have proven to be very helpful.

3 tried and tested ways I use to declutter my physical and mental space

Prioritizing me

“The best friend you will ever find is you. You must love yourself with joy to fill your heart with bliss and happiness” ― Debasish Mridha.

Relationships gurus say that breakups are normal in life but there’s nothing normal about the pain and devastation even if you are the one doing the initiating. It was so hard to stop judging myself for all the ‘could haves’, ‘should haves,’ ‘would haves’ and learn to love me again.

In his article, Jesse Kahn LMSW explains the importance of not judging yourself after a breakup: “Whether that’s judging yourself about productivity, how ‘well’ you perceive yourself to be dealing with your breakup, or how ‘well’ you practice self-care, judging yourself rather than having self-compassion isn’t going to speed up the process,” he says. “An important part of breaking up is not judging yourself…”

I discovered that taking the time to focus on myself and on the things I liked to do worked wonders from a healing perspective.

Making a conscious decision to unfriend people who are only in for entertainment and gossip:

“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart and vitamins for a hopeful soul” — Steve Maraboli

Oftentimes a breakup is a source of entertainment for ‘friends’ who have no real investment in their friendship with you. I’ve realized that a life-changing event reveals the true colors of so-called friends.

Decluttering my life of fake friends and making room for new friends in my life was one of the best decisions I made for myself.

Out with the old, in with the new

“As we evolve our homes should do.”

It was a heartbreaking task to delete old pictures from social media but a social media cleanse was something I had to do in order to put a close to that chapter and move forward. I repeated the same process with things that acted as painful reminders of the past.

Engaging in redecorating projects around my home helped immensely with the healing. I discovered that experimenting with bright, cheery colors for paint, throw pillows, and picking quirky table lamps worked wonders in making the space once again my own.

More than one good thing came out of my efforts in decluttering and redecorating — the local donation center benefitted from several bags of clothing and miscellaneous household items.

So, my response to the DEP contest prompt “How spring inspires you” would be that for me it is a time to take good care of myself, keep on tending, and growing my personal garden, and most of all continue cultivating a positive mindset for the journey ahead.

Thank you DEP editors Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, and Dr. Preeti Singh, as well as DEP spring contest sponsor DR Rawson - The Possibilist

If you’d like to participate in the contest, please check out the link below

I enjoyed this beautiful read by Dr. Preeti Singh