Cleaning and Clearing

I know I'm a little late with the spring cleaning but better late than never!

I’m someone who seems to need a lot of stuff around me to feel safe and comfortable, but lately, it’s all got a bit out of hand.  I had a tough year last year with some work stress going on and this meant my anxiety kicked off so I would surround myself with things and keep items.  But then I would get more anxious because my surroundings were cluttered and the belongings I had around me don’t have specific homes, and it would be a slow downward spiral.

I had a look at when it was that I moved into my current home and I realised that it's just over six years ago.  No wonder I've accumulated so much, for want of a better word; crap!  The four years previously I'd moved about five times so had a clear our whenever a move was coming up.  With being in one place for so long this time, I've not needed to sort through my things to get rid of what I no longer wanted, needed, used or anything that no longer served me.

I did have a few clear outs last year but most of the things just ended up in a bit of dead space behind one of the living room sofas.  Some things I did manage to take to a charity shop earlier this year, but for the most part, it all stayed in the living room.

I have recently found Kalyn Nicholson on YouTube and oh my goodness!!! I am OBSESSED with her channel! She does these clearing and cleaning Vlogs which I’ve found super inspiring and motivating, so much so that I have cleared my kitchen cupboards, cleared and sorted my living room, (not the things to donate though, they are still there) and I have done half of my bedroom. This first part of my bedroom took me three hours!  But my space and surrounding look and feel so much better already. Even the light looks different and the air feels different. 

I have also more importantly arranged for a local charity shop to come this Friday and pick up all the things I am getting rid of. That is HUGE!!! I already feel so much better, lighter and more positive from cleared some of my space and sorted the collection.  I really want to clear through my clothes and the rest of the things in my room I've not got round to yet, but there really isn’t anywhere to put what I’ll get rid of, so that will have to wait.

I have also changed my routines up as well.  I am spending time reading and drinking a cup of hot water at the small kitchen table in the morning before I shower, and I eat my breakfast at the small kitchen table as well. I usually do this in the summer but I don't recall doing it much last year.  Then I make a cup of tea and either watch some inspiring YouTube videos or write in my journal.

I've also changed my lunches for work.  I keep getting fed up with food from time to time and after seeing a post on my IG feed last week, I’ve swapped from salads to roasted sweet potato, with broccoli, spinach, salad pepper and Quorn roast chicken slices.  I think I will mix the other vegetables up from time to time with roasted vegetables, like red onion, salad pepper and what else I fancy that week.

Within a few hours of me finishing the part clear out of my bedroom, a friend who I've known for years, messaged me out of the blue!  If that's not the Universe saying 'about time' for the clear out of my unwanted, unneeded and unused things to allow new things, and new possibilities to come into my life, I don't know what is!