Do you feel a sense of peace when you walk through your door? Do you look forward to an evening or weekend at home? As winter approaches, when most of us spend more time indoors, now is a good time to explore ways to achieve tranquility in your space.
Review Your Routines
Often our routines are so ingrained we never question their efficacy. Maybe you use your mother’s method of paying bills at the last minute. Or, like your dad, you write important notes on the nearest scrap of paper (which is easily lost and never found again). If your habits aren’t contributing to your sense of peace and calm, it’s time to create new ones.
Each person has a unique way of doing things. To find what works best for you, step back and examine what doesn’t work as well as what does. Modify your systems—for example, file bills according to the date to be mailed in a desktop bill organizer. Also, place empty envelopes and junk mail in the recycling bin immediately to keep you from using them as notepaper; write your notes on a dry-erase board or in your PDA instead.
Cultivate calm with small measures like these, and tackle only one thing at a time. Most of all, remember that new habits take time and patience to implement.
Make it Your Corner of the Universe, Not Someone Else’s
Look around your living room. Did you choose everything in it because you love its beauty or purpose? Which things contribute to your sense of calm? Which don’t?
Sometimes well-meaning gifts are the problem—every time you see that blue vase you feel sadness (it reminds you of someone you miss) or irritation (it doesn’t fit your décor) or guilt (you’re thinking about getting rid of it). It’s okay to let both the vase and the negative emotion go. Neither has a place in your sanctuary. We can express genuine gratitude to gift-givers and then find the right use for the gift, even if that means donating it.
Do you keep bumping into your great-grandmother’s table, the one your mom gave you because she was attached to it and didn’t have room for it in her house? It is okay for us to say “no, thank you” to people who clutter our homes as they de-clutter theirs.
You can also prevent unwanted objects from coming into your home. Pre-empt gift-givers or tell everyone how to find your Amazon.com Wish List. Or, suggest that gifts be in the form of a donation to your favorite charity.
It’s important to honor our friends and family for their generosity and the influence they have on our lives. It’s equally important to honor ourselves by creating a sense of tranquility in the place where we live.
Kerry Crocker, founder of Space Cadette, provides professional organizing services to individuals seeking to better organize their homes and/or offices. She has a particular interest in helping clients who are de-cluttering as part of the process to recycle, donate, or consign items for re-use by others and to help protect the environment.
