A friend of mine writes the blog, bachelorpadinfo.com. I think it’s such a great idea and full of great information. Not just for bachelors either. The discussion of taking care of your place got me thinking.
The things we do, how we live and the people we hang out with say a lot about who we are. And it also says a lot about where we are in the current moment of our lives. We can actually use the state of our living spaces to check in with ourselves and see how we are feeling about things.
Does your bed get made every morning? Are the dishes in the dishwasher or still dirty in the sink piling up for days? Are your clean clothes put away or have they found a permanent residence on the chair by your bed?
When I am at most my productive I feel really good about myself. And when I feel good about myself the items around my home seem to find their way to their rightful places. But when I am feeling out of sorts things just got messy.
It’s kind of like when we don’t deal with our emotions. For every emotion there is a physical attachment. And if we don’t deal with our stuff it has to come out some how. For me, when something is bothering me that I don’t know how to deal with, I rearrange my furniture. It helps me in the moment but it doesn’t miraculously give me the answers I seek. What I have come to realize is that our living spaces really are an extension of us.
When I move the furniture around I am just shuffling around the emotions I don’t understand. I am not engaging in ground breaking epiphanies. Rearranging the furniture is nothing but a temporary fix. A reshuffling. A distraction.
When my place is in order and my clothes are put away and my bed is made, I am in a place of confidence. I am focussed and happy and my place is a reflection of my current state of mind.
Right now I am struggling with the friendship I made and have been talking a lot about. Patience. Waiting is hard for me. I live at a productions pace and while I know the rest of the world doesn’t move this fast I can’t help but want immediate gratification. Right now patience has handcuffed itself to me whether I wanted the visit or not. While I wait, I have come down with a cold and a cough and I haven’t made my bed and my clean clothes lay in wait on the chair. I have been going to the office everyday prepping a commercial which has been a much needed distraction but I realize today that my hiding behind my work is a form of moving the furniture around.
Today I have a day off and I am feeling distracted and unmotivated in my waiting. My inability to speed up the process or be in control leaves me considering moving the furniture around again. But then I remembered the importance in the lessons and the importance in resting and healing when we are sick.
You know what? Sometimes it’s okay to just be. Sometimes it’s okay to have your place a mess if you’re feeling kind of messy or you’re too busy or you’re distracted.
Sometimes the messages around us are so obvious and yet so profound. There is something to be learned in everything we see, feel, hear, touch and smell. If we are willing to heed the lessons they can be everywhere we look. Little clues, indicators and signs of what our souls need most. Today my messages came from the state of my living space. Who knows what tomorrow holds.
Awareness is a truth I am willing to confide in. Are you?
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