In my last letter, I mentioned I was giving each month a theme. January’s theme was Restore and I feel it has worked on levels I hadn’t predicted. I restored a lot more of myself than anticipated. I rested and went to bed early every night, which made a big difference, I went out, which reconnected me to my old self, and I started correcting my posture whenever I remembered, which gave me the hope of relieving some back problems. What I restored in the end was strength and agency over parts of my life I thought I had none. I feel more empowered.

When we set an intention, we have an agenda, but the results might be bigger than our goals.

The essential point to remember here is that the intention has to be made and kept in mind, and action has to be taken.

This month, my intention was Declutter, but I changed it for Make Space. I want to declutter the house of things that made up a life that doesn’t exist anymore. I am well aware that clutter is stagnant energy that prevents us from moving on. I must open the door to new possibilities and stop hanging on to my children’s childhood. I want to make space for the three of us and new happy chapters.

My first action was to close the dozens of tabs on my Safari and Chrome browsers. Can you relate? All these things I had meant to go back to, to read or use, but was never taking the time to do, had to go. I let go of things I meant to do so that I can make space for things that matter right now.

Next, I made a list of the rooms I wanted to declutter in which order. Then I divided the first room in several zones that I would work on. The work of decluttering can be overwhelming so it helps to focus on just one room at a time and tackle one zone (one closet, one shelf, one drawer, one box) and do it until it’s finished before we move on to another zone. This is real life decluttering, not TV decluttering where you have professionals emptying your home then forcing you to make decisions under pressure.

Decluttering in real life is slow work but with a plan and consistent action (maybe once a week), we get the results that work for us. Although I am starting the work this month, I only plan to sort one room and carry on from then until my house is the best home for our next chapter. It will take a few months and that’s alright because I am focusing on progress.

I will examine all the ways I can make space in my life: clearing emails, photos, time-wasting activities (although I have already made big progress with that), thoughts that don’t serve me, etc.

What about you? What intention would benefit you most this month?

Valerie 

http://valeriemarsh.com