Springtime is one of the most magnificent times of the year. It is when the aroma is always coated in a floral scent, the pollinators are out and about, and human beings prepare to remove all the cobwebs from their lives.
Spring is known for its time of transformation, where life is reborn in many different ways. Not only are many aspects of the natural world coming to life during this time, but we also start to rejuvenate our physical spaces, which often entails mental de-clutter too.
When approaching our physical space during spring we may think of beauty, organisation, and cleanliness. Spring is the perfect opportunity to declutter belongings, and I can think of two famous methods to help you decide what to keep.
Firstly, there is Marie Kondo’s method, asking does your item “spark joy”? Within this method, you would bring all of the items in a category into one room – to come to a realisation of how much you own in that category! The next step is to take every single item in your hands and ask yourself if this item ‘sparks joy’ in your life. If yes, you get to keep it. If not, you thank it for being in your life and pass it on through donations or trash.
Secondly, there is the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which is a concept of getting rid of things in your life so that your loved ones don’t have the burden of having to deal with all your belongings when you have passed. This method calls for you to not hold onto material possessions to spark a memory, for the memory will live within us forever (with or without the material). Even though this is considered more for the prepping of passing, we can incorporate this mindset to truly discern what we no longer need in our life to simplify everything for ourselves and our families.
Here are two frameworks you can use to build a comfortable process of letting go. Start easy and then move onto more deeply sentimental items. Once you get the ball rolling, you will start to be more in tune with what you actually need and want vs items kept for possibly un-examined reasons. I believe that we often hold onto items that serve no purpose and bring frustration & obligations unnecessarily. Sell the valuable items & donate books or clothes to friends – a perfect way to make another person smile.
But it is not only the outside we should be thinking about. Our inner world is often reflected in our outer world. Therefore we may prioritise the spring cleaning of the inner as well.
This is an invitation to reflect upon who you have been this past year. What did you accomplish? What did you not enjoy about who you were or what you did? What were the repeating thoughts in your brain that built you up and broke you down? Did your values change and what do they look like now? Let these be valuable shadow work prompts to help you find who you were before you look into who you want to be now. Here you may be presented with the lessons of the past to ensure a more aligned path for the future.
Building a vision board for the new lifestyle you are aiming for, is a great visual way to stimulate your brain to subconsciously assist decisions that will get you closer to your desires.
If you are uncertain about how to build a vision board I shall give you a few tips:
- Find categories of your life you want to focus on. E.g. lifestyle, physical appearance, professionally, and spiritually.
- Within each category think of things or concepts that you desire. E.g. maybe you want to start a Youtube channel and have 100K subscribers or you want to start working with a reiki master to help balance your chakras on a monthly basis, or you have a dream company you want to work with.
- Now that you have your ideas, find a photo to represent each idea. E.g. Youtube pic for 100K subscribers, photo of the energies that run through and between all human beings, the logo of your dream company.
- Place everything together on one board and hang it somewhere you will see it every day. You can either make it digitally and/or make it the wallpaper of your laptop or phone.
Now that you have journaled and vision boarded, it is time to take action. Build a to do list for yourself of all of the goals and changes you want to make for your life. No matter how big or how small the goal is to improve your life, write it all down. Categorise them into daily / weekly /monthly / yearly goals. All this depends on you, however much time you want to devote to something specific you can determine what agreement you make with yourself. These goals help you build selftrust, because the more you uphold these promises the more you prove to yourself that what you say you
are going to do, will come to fruition.
Remember, this is not only done for the physical things you are trying to pull into your life, but also mindsets that you want to draw in. If you are craving a new perspective, open yourself up to learning from people who do not look/sound/act like you. The internet is an amazing source of information, find something new to learn about to open up new thoughts, conversations, and networks in your life. The more you are open to exploring, the more fresh ideas and people will walk into your life. Not everything is necessary for you to hold onto, rather what resonates you can incorporate.
Nothing is a waste of time, if it does not align, it simply is an indicator that it is not for you. Always practice gratitude for the lessons that come into your life for they have to build you into the person you are today.
May this article invoke inspiration for the Springtime and into the new year.
“Freedom is being you without anyone’s permission.”
Charlotte Mostert charlotte@charlotte.nom.za
+27(0) 81 7588 189
