Mindfulness of living space can support us in mindful living. During the past week, I’ve been working through one of my greatest challenges—tidying up my home and home office. It’s always been a challenge. I’m very aware that a cluttered space becomes a distraction and that it constantly takes energy to be perpetually faced with an undone task.
I typically have a few piles of paperwork on the sofa, many piles on the dining room table, a few on the kitchen counter, and a paper storm in my home office. Once things pass a certain point, looking at the piles of paperwork becomes a source of stress and feels impossible to clear.
We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. — T.S. Eliot
I spent most of the weekend doing a major paperwork sorting, tossing and filing. And while I was at it, I did an overdue spring-cleaning. I know that I feel better in my home when it’s tidy. I just have a difficult time maintaining it. As of this moment, everything in my home has a place. I’m on day 3 of putting things it their place. What I notice is that it is now easier in all areas of my home to feel a sense of internal peace when my external environment is peacefully arranged. I’m enjoying spending time in all rooms of my house instead of just the rooms that were typically less cluttered.
For the next 30 days, this is my everyday mindfulness practice: I notice the habitual pattern of dropping things in the nearest “temporary” (that typically becomes permanent) holding space; I say to myself, “Here I am again. Everything in its place.” And then I put the paperwork or object in its proper place. So far it’s easier than I imagined, but isn’t that the way that all new habits start out? Let’s see how I’m doing in a week or two. ; )
In what ways are you using your mindfulness practice in your everyday? What practices or systems do you have in place to keep your home and/or office neat and tidy?