Clearing out mental goo

Sacred Space 2 - naioth.com

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”  A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh.

“You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought.”  Peter McWilliams


“Our thoughts are where everything begins.” Mike Dooley

The supervisors ordered the big blue trash and recycling bins to be rolled into our office area under the auspice of “Spring Cleaning.”   Reality, the director is making a “hello” sweep the third week of February.  My cubicle has already had the once over with demerit looks.  I’m the first to admit that it isn’t tidy with the piles stacked around my cubical.  Each equates to six different projects I’m simultaneously working on. 

From a Feng Shui perspective, I should happily be cleaning and tossing to bring in fresh possibilities and allowing space for new growth.  And, from my experience at home I love that refreshing and good feeling when the chi moves freely.   But, honestly I don’t need any more new work projects roosting in my office yet, or at least until my co-worker comes back from her educational leave. 

My gripe is about the who is in charge and how people are told how their offices should look - the supervisor who’s a minimalist and known for delegating all his work and manages to get the glory.  His approach isn’t like Mary Poppins singing a song to move the job along.  It’s more like the ‘office police.’  His technique makes me feel like a teenager with no choice as to how I organize my space.  It’s my way or the highway approach.  

As the day wore on, I could feel myself becoming more worked up about being told to clean my office.  It was draining my focus from my tasks at hand. 

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I was talking to my good friend C Thursday night.  I told her I was writing about clearing out the clutter.  She said downsizing, selling the majority of her things and her house and then moving away was very traumatic decluttering.  But, every day she is amazed how new things come into her life.  She wishes she’d done it sooner.  C found a furnished condo and has strawberries for breakfast daily.  C says every day she wakes up thankful and waiting for the next thing to pop into her life.  She firmly believes having all that stuff back in Ohio was stressful and interfered with her life.

I told her I was thinking about writing about mental clutter.  “You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought; I know someone wrote a book on that.” C says.  We both agreed that mental clutter can manifest all kinds of negative consequences. 

Basic magic 101: thoughts manifest into reality – both negative and positive.  “Our thoughts are where everything begins,” says Mike Pooley in Infinite Possibilities.  If your mind is clogged up with thoughts and feelings over previous bad relationships, anger about that bad grade from 4^th grade or guilt that you didn’t tell a deceased relative goodbye it will sabotage the intent of your magic.  It could take away your focus.

Magical living starts with intent.  You have to be able to see your goals, dreams wishes and the great things happening around you.  However, if you have mental clutter things will run amuck.  Personally, I’ve found the stuff that's floating around in my brain interferes with my concentration, focus and visualization.  These are the primary fundamentals needed for a path of possibilities.  When I don’t address my clutter immediately: I’m daydreaming, stuck in a rut, ticked off, obsessed about some injustice and not seeing the yellow brick road ahead.

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Activities:

Cleaning my physical environment is easy.  I just need to watch an episode of Hoarders.  It sends me to the bathrooms, nooks and corners.  Personally, I empathize with those people.  Their stuff has been attached to emotional baggage and feelings of self-worth.  It’s easy for me to say – okay let’s get out the white trash bags and cleaning supplies.  However, you can’t clean the brain with a SOS pad. 

Activities that have worked for me to break up my messy mental clutter:

• I’ve made a list of all my complaints, gripes, fears, anxieties and bury it with a penny next to a tree.  The tree spirits have always helped me out.  They seem to change that negative energy and make it something good.
• I’m a firm believer of the Julian Cameron “brain dump.”  She calls it “Morning Pages.”  Basically it is 3 pages worth of how you are feeling, what is on your mind – physically, mentally and spiritually. You’re writing in longhand and it doesn’t matter how you hand writing looks, if the words are spelled correctly or if you’re are using Mrs. Boomer’s 8^th grade English grammar rules – your hand is moving putting down what is going on in your brain.  At the end of three pages, you close the book.
• Mediation, Yoga and walking
• Have lunch or tea with a friend – get another perspective. 
• Using the Rules of Disengagement by Gail Blanke from her book Throw out 50 Things.
• One. If it – the thing, the belief or conviction, the memory, the job, even the person – weighs you down, clogs you up, or just plain makes you feel bad about yourself, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on.
• Two. If it (see above!) just sits there, taking up room and contributing nothing positive to your life, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. Throwing out what’s negative helps you rediscover what’s positive.
• Three. Don’t make the decision – whether to toss it or keep it – a hard one. If you have to weigh the pros and cons for too long or agonize about the right thing to do, throw it out.
• Four. Don’t be afraid. This is your life we’re talking about. The only one you’ve got for sure. You don’t have the time, energy, or room for physical or psychic waste.

Finally, my activities don’t take the place of seeking or replacing a licensed professional.  Nor do they replace taking prescribed medication.  I’m a firm believer in calling in someone who has been trained in the field of mental health.  I went to a licensed social worker to understand why I kept attracting and dating alcoholics so I could move on.  If you find that you can’t get rid or cope with your mental goo seek a professional.  A witchy wise woman/man leads by example in their community.  She/He gives equal importance to mental health issues as vocalizing social injustices or getting a mammography or prostate exam.  A healthy witchy wise woman/man practices the magical life more effectively.

Other Inspired Readings

Note:  I've linked my books up with Amazon - however - please please please - go to your local independent book store first.  If you have the ISBN they can order the book for you.  My link to Amazon can get you that number. 

Ariana. House Magic. Berkley, California: Conari Press. 2001.

Budapest, Z.  Goddess in the Office. New York: HarpersCollins. 1993.

Kingston, Karen. Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui.  New York: Broadway Books. 1997.