Spring Cleaning for your Spirit

It's March and we can start to see the first signs of spring. There are new buds on the trees, in my town there are baby lambs in the fields, and I find myself inspired to start spring cleaning my life.  It is time to let go of the old and create space for new creations…Creative Decluttering!   

Through this process we will let go of everything that does not bring us joy and simply clutters our Spirit.  There are things that we do from our C.A.G.E. (Circumstances, Agreements, Guilt, Expectations) that have become habit.    It doesn’t deliver joy, but we continue the behavior because we have never truly examined it or asked, “is this something I want to continue doing?”.

So many of my clients come to me thinking that they can’t have it all, that compromise and hardship is just a part of life.  Well, I call BS!  Believing that we can’t have it all is simply a concept, an agreement we make with ourselves from the limitations of our C.A.G.E.

I believe that when we break free from the confines of our C.A.G.E. and fly free, we can have everything in our life that our Spirit truly wants and have all of the joy our Lush Life can bring. 

Let’s make room for more joy to come into our lives!  Keep the things that are already working to create joy and ditch the things that don’t. This is what I call, “Creating your Lush Life”. 

First, we need to identify what we are doing from our CAGE.  Our C.A.G.E. has us doing things that we think we ‘should’ be doing, not what our Spirit truly wants to create.  Beware the ‘Shoulds’! 

Here are some common ways we operate from our C.A.G.E.:

• To fix the circumstances in our lives by creating the conditions we think are needed in order for us to have what we want

Example: “I should stay at this job because it pays well and it is good enough.  When I retire, I can live the life that I would love.”

• To align with the agreements, we have about ourselves - the things we think we need to change or do to be accepted

Example: “I should take that course because I don’t know what I’m doing.”. “I should be on the committee so people will think I’m doing my part”   

• To mitigate a sense of Doing things that don’t deliver joy or not doing things that do because it would bring up too much guilt.

Example: “I can’t possibly take time out for myself – I’m a mom, so it should be my job to always put my kids and husbands needs first.  Being selfless is what makes you a good mom.”

• To abide by the expectations placed on us by others or society and that we have taken on board

Example: “I should go to the gym to lose weight and get fit”, “I should be really active on social media for my business because that’s how it’s done.”

We need to stop doing things out of obligation to our C.A.G.E. so we leave space for things that bring us true joy.   

I’m a big fan of Marie Kondo. She's a Japanese phenomenon, who helps people declutter their houses and in doing so, bring more joy into their lives. She wrote the book ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying’ and shows people how decluttering impacts so much more than their space. It's amazing how, when you declutter the things in your life that don't serve you, it gives you the space for new things to come in.

I particularly love her methodology. In deciding what goes and what stays, she says to pick up the item and hold it in your hands.  Then ask yourself, “does this spark joy for me?”.  If it does, celebrate it (by not throwing it in the back of your closet), if it doesn’t, thank it for being part of your life and let it go.

What if we applied this process to everything in our life?  If we define personal success as the amount of joy we have in life, where is your life on the Joy-O-Meter? What is sparking true joy and what is simply clutter that we should thank and let go.

Questions to consider: 

• Does my life spark joy?
• Do the friendships in my life spark joy?
• Does my work/career spark joy?
• Do my hobbies spark joy?
• Does my romantic relationship spark joy?
• Do my finances spark joy?
• Does my home spark joy?
• Does the way that I care for myself spark joy?

Remember, that sometimes it is the end-result of the activity that sparks joy, not always how we get there.

I don’t particularly like the ‘act’ of grocery shopping, but I do love healthy food.  Nourishing my body with clean, delicious food brings me joy and supports my Lush Life vision.  When I'm in the end-result of what I really love, it gives me the opportunity to think about the type of shopping experience I would enjoy most.  

Since I still need to shop for food, I love supporting local businesses by shopping at farms and shops in the neighbouring village.   Getting to know local shop owners and having regular friendly conversation brings me far more joy than at a big supermarket.

Maybe sitting in the pick-up line for 30 minutes each day at your children’s school is frustrating.  You could dread the activity each day, or you could focus on the end-result: having a loving connection with your children where they feel safe and supported.  Focusing on that vision and emotion before leaving the house will allow you to find more joy in the activity.  While you wait, it could be a perfect 30-minute break for some selfcare with an audio book or meditation.  Once they are in the car, it could be some great ‘captive audience time’ for connecting conversation or introducing them to the music you loved as a kid.  

It’s important to think about the end result. Does that end-result bring joy?  If so, from the energy of the end result you can ask ‘what will bring me joy in this activity?’. I like to think of this as upgrading our joy!

I invite you to think about how you spend your time and ask if it sparks joy or are you doing it to fix a circumstance, driven by an agreement, to mitigate guilt or align to expectations (C.A.G.E.)?

From there you will have two paths:

• Does the end result bring you joy? If so, upgrade your activity so that getting there is more joyful.
• Does it simply not spark joy? Let it go!

Downloads

• MArch 21 Article - Spring Cleaning for the Spirit_Final.pdf