Authors note: Hello Bella life readers, it is that time of the year again to get in shape…with your house! I am a firm believer in the relationship between how the outside mirrors the inside and visa-versa. I hope this article helps you get back on track. As an adjunct, I did a whole 4-part de-cluttering series last spring here on Bella Life that I totally recommend that you check out or re-do again They are chock full of step-by step fun tips on how to create more space for grace! ~Natalie~
Challenge #1 – Go From Crappy To Happy
Challenge #2 – Clothes – ter – phobic
Challenge #3 – Bringing Sexy Back
Final Challenge – Space With Grace
Spring is the time your best self gets sprung forth and declares its unique existence and expression to the universe. In keeping with the notion of law of attraction (like attracts like), it is natural, and advisable to want your outside appearances to match your inside appearances, and visa versa. Winter is all about “behind the scenes” and under the surface growth. We cannot see the maggots and other decomposers gnawing away at the roots of the trees underneath (thank goodness). Likewise, we too cover up our surfaces by making cocoons and love burritos of ourselves as we wrap up in blankies and wear sleeping bags (my term for my full-body puffy coat), scarves, hats, gloves, muffs, leg warmers, etc. around any remaining orifice. Good. Fine. You went with Nature’s rhythm. However, spring is quite the contrary. It is a rebirth and when you came outta mom, guess what? You were naked! In all of your shiny and messy glory, you screamed at the top of your lungs, and made a loud-ass entrance. It is time to do it again! Get naked and make a loud-ass entrance, “Look at me. I’m a HOOOTTTTIIIEEEE inside and out”!
What I mean by this is strip down those extra layers and show thy true self! You are the beautiful little sapling breaking through the soil and showing off. Now trust me, I am NOT about appearances for appearance sake, but I AM however a fan of the notion that “as within, so without”, meaning that your inside life and outside life are rather concurrent and it is something worth exploring further. Just as your sweet, green soft sapling skin is so pure, clean and beautiful, so should your surroundings and environment be as to maintain this untainted deliciousness. So, I am not asking you to become a stripper (though that would be hot and I’ve seen your moves…you could make a MINT!) but instead to commit to clean house both inside and out. In doing so, you are creating the opportunity to de-clutter your mind, body and soul, allowing that which really shines to show–uncrowded and unencumbered by junk.
Task: I am going to ask you to go through your home and get rid of at least 3 big bags worth of stuff (if you want specifics, refer to my past de-cluttering series–details below). Enlist in the help of some buddies, or have them do the same chore at home and donate the bags together or gather for a stoop sale (a yard or garage sale if you live in the burbs)! Stoop sales are particularly popular in Brooklyn and people go gaga for everything! I happen to have a stoop and do about 5 stoop sales a year, so let me know if you want to collaborate and “stoop it up”. Be sure to set an intention for the money you make, whether it is to give the money to charity, or buy yourself a facial or colonics (two self-care activities that also coincide with spring de-cluttering–give your pores and your bung-hole the gift of being as clean as a whistle). As you set about doing the task of getting rid of your shabby drabbies, you will feed yourself some mantras and keep your eye on the prize:
1) Keep this quote in mind when you are struggling to forfeit that 15 year old hand bag –
“One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.”
2) Blast a little Cyndi Lauper and sing to yourself as you trash those unflattering sweatpants with hair-dye stains, “I can see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors, and that’s why I love you. So don’t be afraid to let them show, Your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPn0KFlbqX8 (link to her kick-ass truly colorful video).
3) As you part with that torn blankie and binkie from babyhood, affirm that –
“I live in the now. Now is the perfect time.” 4) While painstakingly bagging your Troll doll collection, tell yourself –
“more space = more grace”.
5) When spackling the mice-chewed holes in your wall, declare –
“home improvement = self improvement.”
Once you’ve gathered your 3 or more (I expect more) bags of junk (I mean, your precious past possessions), I want you to do a little ritual with them. As you stand before them, say “In parting with these physical attachments and possessions, I too part with other unhealthy attachments in my life that I’ve held onto for too long.” If you want to get specific, (I recommend you do), follow that with “…namely my co-dependant relationship with my best-friend, my need to mother my mother, my obsession with wet puppy dog noses, my position of “lack”, my irrational fear of belly button lent, my desire to be a My Little Pony, my unwillingness to give up the camel-toe look…”. You get the idea…these are all pretty common things, but feel free to tailor them to all your individual idiosyncrasies. Whatever comes up for you, let it out. Then, call on ascended master and Hindu goddess Lakshmi to help you Let Go (her specialty). Finally, request that divine energy flows through you replacing any of those fears/attachments with love and light.
*Disclaimer, be near a bathroom, because sometimes clearing out the old sends you running towards the pot! In addition, don’t be surprised inf you start going #2 more often in general, shed some pounds, and clear up your skin as these are all, in party, physical manifestations for holding on to something for way too long and with too tight a grip.
OK Bellas, start getting naked–delayer the house and strip down.
