When we give ourselves permission to look, see and decide what's no longer serving us in our environment, we open up our hearts. When clutter busting, we stop giving our attention over to others and the world, and we spend time with ourselves. We sincerely care what we think and feel about what's in our surroundings. Turning our compassion on ourselves makes us come alive. Our hearts relish the attention.
The thing is, we're not encouraged to take care of ourselves. There's always something else to do. We get swallowed up by obligations and distractions. We get exhausted. And we keep going in our diminished ways.
When I got pneumonia last month, my body shut itself down. I couldn't keep going like I was used to. I was left with sleeping and resting. I was away from home so I had none of my favorite distractions. I did have my laptop, but even going online was exhausting. My biggest activity was going out to the backyard of the home I was staying at and sitting in the sunlight.
I was left with looking at my thoughts and insights. I took a look at the way I was living my life. I've always had lots of energy to do things, even when I was tired. Lots of time I didn't even notice I was exhausted. I got the insight that I was using my body like I was riding a horse. I wasn't thinking of my body as me. It was an instrument to do things. And like all things, when they wear out and break, I get a new one. But this is the only body I have. It needs pit stops, rest stops, vacations, sabbaticals, and tender loving care.
I realized that taking it easy is as much an activity as writing a book, or helping someone clutter bust, or doing stand-up. And it's just as important. Without getting good rest, the other things I do suffer. And most importantly, I suffer.
Spending this time with myself on an inner clutter bust made my heart grow bigger. I got nurtured by caring about myself.