The CLARITY Project - February

My goal for the February edition of the Clarity Project, was to get rid of the piles of "stuff" that had accumulated around our home. Primarily in the basement, where it was hard to even find any toys underneath all of the other...toys. I'm happy to say I accomplished my goals, and realized a few things along the way.

It took me a while to get going, but publicly stating it here and on social media really helped get my bum in gear. Do you ever try publicly stating your goals? It's definitely a big help in the motivation department.

I started with the basement and pretty much focused on that much of the month. Right away, I was a bit surprised at how great it felt to start narrowing things down. There were so many toys and knick knacks that we'd been holding onto out of sheer laziness and sentimentality that I finally decided I was ready to part with. That set of decision alone was very empowering for me.

I did also tackle specific rooms and areas in the rest of our house, and although this will be an ongoing project I already feel a huge sense of clarity. Just the simple act of clearing out my makeup drawer and putting things where I can actually see them has really helped me feel more calm! What took me so long?!

Our basement now actually looks like a basement rather than a junk repository, and there is something else that I learned. My boys are actually playing with toys now. I find (and I believe studies have shown) that kids get overwhelmed when there are just too many toys, and may end up playing with none of them. Now that I've significantly narrowed down their options, they are actually playing with the things I'd like them to - like the blocks, legos and crafts station.

Ahhh. Controlled Chaos.

In the end, I learned from this exercise that for me at least, cluttered surroundings DO indeed equal a cluttered mind. Now that a lot of the piles and junk is gone, I feel calmer and more able to think! I'll be working my way through the rest of the house in the coming months, but this time I'm not going to delay. My reward is a sense of clarity, accomplishment and peace...not something I want to put off!

Now, on to the March Clarity Project. New post about that coming soon!