I was vacuuming the lounge earlier and had to stop to write a few things down. It got me thinking that when I am doing something else, the words flow from my mind so much quicker than when I’m sitting at the laptop. It happens to me whilst vacuuming, cooking, showering pegging washing on the line, listening to or reading something inspirational, and so on. It’s amazing how thoughts are sometimes under potato skins, under the crumbs on the floor, behind a wall of clutter, under a layer of dust…

Doing something else is a good way of uncovering true thoughts and feelings that are buried deep. Although I’ve been out and about today, I’ve had quiet day off; getting in touch with my inner self.

This morning

I had my usual quiet time in the conservatory this morning and then popped out for a quick walk before the rain came. I wanted to be out enjoying nature and seeing the blue sky which I haven’t seen much of during my week off.

This afternoon

I took my daughters to the hairdresser’s house today. The lady used to have a shop but after she retired she now has a room in her house that she works from. The girls have been going to her since the youngest one was crawling (and they are now teenagers). It’s been six months since they’ve had their hair cut so they were looking forward to it.

I got to spend two whole hours in Jan’s lounge with each of my daughters individually whilst the other one had their hair cut. It was so quiet, except for the sound of the rain outside. I actually had a twenty minute snooze towards the end which was amazingly refreshing. I said that I’d be back tomorrow at the same time, ha ha. She said that a lot of people say how calming her lounge is.

I treated the girls to a MacDonalds on the way home which pleased them.

A new author to listen to and learn from

I do love a new author to add to my collection, it has a sort of freshness about it and I do like getting different perspectives on things. I discovered Stephanie Bennett Vogt on Instagram today where she was advertising a clutter clearing course called A Year to Clear What is Holding You Back. As you know, I already have enough going on so decided to give it a miss. I looked to see if she had any audio books and she did. The one I ended up downloading was called Your Spacious Self.

In the write up, I discovered that the book is more about feelings and uncovering things than about physical clutter, which is exactly what I’d been thinking about before even discovering this book (life has a way of bringing the right teachers to you at the right time). She interestingly says that clearing isn’t about to-do lists or sorting out the stuff that’s piling up around us. Her explanation is as follows…

Clearing is not about any of those things, it is how you relate to them. It is the space between the problem and the solution where the real juice is; where the real living happens. The only way to release what isn’t working for you is to enter the sometimes scary zone called feeling. Feeling the overwhelm, resistance, attachment, guilt, sadness, worry, despair, shame. Feeling it all, without judging it as good or bad or taking it personally.

Stephanie Bennett Vogt, Your Spacious Self

She goes on to say that we shouldn’t be trying to fix ourselves as apparently we’re not broken as such, it’s more about getting in touch with our true selves and getting balance back into our lives.

Mental and Emotional Clutter

I have been very focused over the last 240 days about actual material clutter, only occasionally giving myself days here and there to declutter my mind, and more recently having time to myself in the morning. I love Stephanie’s message about clutter magically melting away by doing a bit more self care. I’m so looking forward to listening to the rest of the book. I can only hope that this new book will complement my existing approach and take my decluttering journey into a slightly different and interesting direction.

Exciting times!

Ooo, just one more pic… I’ve just taken these cheese twists out of the oven. I didn’t know what to do with the leftover pastry from yesterday’s pie and my mum told me about a recipe that my niece told her about. Here they are… and they are delicious

Until tomorrow…

Sandra