Thursday, August 30, 2007

Inside Out Series - What We Can Learn About Ourselve By Looking At Our Homes

As I mentioned in the earlier post we can learn a lot about what's happening within ourselves if we take a closer look at what's happening externally.

We're going to spend some time considering our home or environment in which we live.

Energetically our environments have a huge effect on whether we are really living up to our potential and can often times be part of a self-sabatoge cycle.

Clutter Queen VS. Neat Freak
This area is one that I really want to address. I feel that a lot can be learned by taking a look at which label by which you would define yourself.

Clutter Queen: The collector of clutter. You would fall into this category if you have things in your house that you don't know what to do with so you pile it on a table, shove in a closet, fill a drawer or leave it on the floor. You tend to be overwhelmed by the term "organize" and panic at the thought of creating systems to accomplish organization.

Clutter creates a huge blockage of creative energy which prevents one from moving forward and embracing their full power. This is especially true when a big fear is being tapped into. Most people will find that their clutter prevents them from doing something they know they can do. For example: If there is a fear of success then you might find clutter factoring into paying your bills late and creating financial difficulty, therefore preventing financial success.

So, a few questions to consider:

  • Where are you limiting yourself with your clutter?
  • What fears might be at play here?
  • What would happen if you were to eliminate your clutter?
  • What scares you about that?
  • How would you have to change your thinking in order to change your enviroment?
  • What would it take for you to let go of the clutter?

Neat Freak: You would fall into this category if you have a system of organization for everything in your house, you go through your mail immediately and have a place for all items in your home including your car keys. The one thing that generally will drive you nuts is if something is NOT in it's designated place.

While clutter can create a blockage of energy, a Neat Freak will often find it hard to release and let go. When a person is unable to release or let go they close themselves off to new opportunities. This person may be unable to fully experience the present because they are so focused on something that needs to be done or put away.

Questions to consider:

  • What opportunities would be available to you if you were to let go of your expectations of how things must be done?
  • What are you "missing" out on?
  • What would happen if you were to fully experience the present moment?
  • How would you have to change your thinking in order to do that?
  • What would it take for you to accomplish that?

Somewhere in Between: This category applies to you if you find you are one way or the other depending on the area/room in your house. You might be a Neat Freak about the kitchen, but a Clutter Queen in your bedroom.

Depending on the room you can gain valuable insight into different parts of yourself. For example if a person is a Clutter Queen in the bedroom there may be a fear of intimacy or a feeling of low self-worth.

If you find yourself in this section, start by determining which category applies to each room in your household. After you have examine the questions under each category and add the questions:
  • What does this room represent for me?
  • What does me being a Clutter Queen OR Neat Freak in this particular room tell me about myself?
I hope you have enjoyed this first article in the "Inside Out" series. Please share your discoveries and thoughts about yourself in relation to your home with me in the comments area. I look forward to the discussion!

Until next time...


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You describe a lot of what is currently going on in my home with what you say in this article. In many, many ways, I am a CQ. I never realized that it might be caused by my own internal fears.

I have been slowly trying to gain control of my clutter and send it out the door thanks the the systems that are available freely on www.flylady.net. I flutter for a while and then fall back into the old CHAOS habits, only to start again. Now I know that I need to work on my internal fears as well as the external clutter for Marla's system to truly work for me.

Suzy Strempke said...

Thank you so much for sharing your insights. I often find myself falling into this category as well and can easily relate. I know that when my house gets really chaotic clutter wise, it's time for me to take a step back and examine what's really going on!

Jenn said...

Oh wow. And that's all I have to say... LOL!!! Just kidding.

This article is truly eye opening. I never realized that my clutter or neatness could say so much about me LOL!!

I have areas of my OFFICE that are either cluttered or impeccably neat and now, thanks to this article, I can see how those areas are reflecting my inner self.

Very interesting. I'm about to clean the house - so I'm going to pay very close attention to areas of clutter and areas of neatness and see how they are correlated... and whether or not in each room, it's the same sort of thing... you know, am I a NF in the kitchen in similar areas as my office.

Thanks for sharing that Suzy - I can't wait to see the rest of the series!

Kim said...

Great article Suzy. I am mulling and thinking it over. :)

Suzy Strempke said...

It's funny how writing opens your eyes to your own stuff too - I too am paying close attention as I go through and clean my house!

Anonymous said...

Suzy, Good Stuff. I am rethinking all of this stuff. I am finding the more organized my home is (within reason with 3 little ones) the more I can think of other things!