Sunday, August 21, 2011

# chaos theory # cleaning

Messy House, Messy Mind

I'm down today and watching my behavior has reminded me that this post has been brewing for months and I haven't taken the time to write it. That happens to me quite a bit. I have all these great post ideas but then I start to feel down or overwhelmed and I let them go. It's something that I'm working on and that makes me feel better. The knowledge that I'm not letting life defeat me boosts me up. Isn't it funny how circular things can be?

Have you ever noticed that when you're down, you let things go and when you let things go, you feel more down? There's that circle again. I just want to let you know that you're not alone in this. This happens to most everyone at some point or another. Don't feel alone and don't beat yourself up over it.

I don't know if there have been studies but it has long been my opinion that a messy space is the sign of a messy mind. Not a dumb mind or a mind that doesn't work but a mind that is filled with chaos. When our minds are filled with chaos, they're not functioning at optimal levels. Things seem more overwhelming. We look around us at the clutter and the disorganization and we think, "Woah, I can't deal with this. I don't know what to do or where to start." Then, we leave the mess there and before we know it, the mess is even worse and now we're really freaking out.

Of course, there's that whole same side of the coin problem. For whatever reason, our space gets chaotic. It gets messy. It gets disorganized. We look at it and it smacks us in the face. We put ourselves in a negative mental space. We beat ourselves up for how it looks. We tell ourselves that "so and so" wouldn't have allowed this to happen. Guess what. We're not so and so. We're us. Nobody's life is as perfect on the inside as it looks from the outside.

I'm going to give you an example and I sure hope that she doesn't mind me using her. Some of you know, Leah from Mamavation.com and Bookieboo.com. For a while, on a fairly frequent basis, I was envious of her. Then, today, her wonderful hubby, Mark (MrBookieboo for those of you on Twitter), was showing pictures of the home office that they're re-organizing for her. I admit. I sighed longingly at the new pieces of furniture. I did. I desperately want some for my own space. Then, he showed a picture and in it, I could see her desk. Guess what, folks...it was just a normal, plain old desk and I seriously thought, "Wow, she has a plain old desk. She's not so different from me." Leah is fantastic but, and I hope I don't hurt her ego saying this, she's just like you and me. She has a house. She has kids. She has a wonderful hubby. She has a thriving site/business. She has all of that, but she has problems just like you and me and I would bet you, that sometimes she gets overwhelmed too.

We're all human. We all have bad days. What matters is how we deal with the bad days, the depression, the feeling overwhelmed, the chaotic brain problems and the chaotic space problems. So, how do we do it? We do it one thing at a time. Just like weight loss or any big project or journey, you start it one step at a time. Find one corner of one room and clear the space. Throw out the trash, donate the unwanted items and hold onto only the treasures. Keep that space just like that and each day, slowly expand out from that space. Before you know it, you'll have an entire room that when you walk into it, you'll smile. When you smile, your brain will release the "happy juice" and you'll relax. When your body relaxes, your mind will relax. For me, I start in my bedroom because what better place to relax in than the room you sleep in? Trust me, a chaotic bedroom will mess with your poor brain more than any other space. Clear that space, clear your mind and you will sleep so much better!

As for me, I'm off to spend just 10 minutes clearing a space. I'm putting the Hershey kisses away (no need to add to the chaotic body fat problem too!) and I'm going to make my bed a place that I want to curl up in tonight. Let me know what you do! Comments = love and support. If you leave a comment, it allows me to support you in your journey as well as gives me the support in mine.

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3 comments:

Michele said...

Yes I agree I can look back in many times in my own life that when I was most organized I was also most at peace. Knowing where to find things is like being able to turn of the water faucet. When you can't you lose lots of water ( or energy)

GAFlyGirl said...

haha I hear ya I am so with ya on this! I definitely have a chaotic mind and really struggle to keep things in order. thanks for the comment on my blog. I probably know u from flylady. It's been forever since I posted on stamping groups. I would love to get back into rubber stamping,scrapbooking,crafting. I went by AprilStampinQueen on the craft boards.

Toni said...

Great post!

Funny that I just tweeted to you that I was going to do a mini clean on my messy house! I constantly say that I make like harder on myself because of the clutter/mess/chaos but I am better than I use to be and hopefully soon I will be a little better than I am today. I am always a work in progress!!!

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