With the start of Spring, comes the desire to clean ones home from top to bottom. I am not sure why it is that spring cleaning seems to be something I actually find myself doing each year, but I guess it is because I love the feeling after it is done - the freedom, the space, the freshness of a place.
This year I started spring cleaning a little bit earlier. Part of my thought process was to start looking at and getting rid of those things I don't use around the house, in order to prepare for finding my own place again. I love the neighbourhood that I am currently in, which means I will have to sacrifice space for location, so it is time to start taking inventory.
When I got to my bathroom cupboards, I opened up one of the doors and as I was pulling things out, I realized I had THREE partial bottles of lotion on the go. So, to some this might not seem like a big deal, but when thinking of living in a small space this just isn't going to work. I looked at each of them, true they were each a different scent, but why did I need three different lotions on the go? When I sat them on the counter, I realized I had one more right there. A glance at my shower was even more embarrassing, two sets of almost empty shampoo and conditioner bottles as well as the two sets I currently use. (Why I am admitting this all online, I am not entirely sure).
Then I hit the kitchen and opened the fridge door to find 2 partially eaten containers of hummus in the fridge. One was almost done, and the other one was about half done.
I kind of giggled at myself and asked "So why can you not finish anything before moving on to the next thing." BOOM - right there, it hit me. After all the personal development workshops I have gone to and the books read; the lesson was in my fridge and cupboards - why can I not finish anything before moving on to the next. The saying that is repeated in almost every personal development type workshop I have been in is, "How you do one thing, is how you do everything." So if this is true, my inability to complete a task before moving on to the next is a pattern, not only in my lotions and my hummus, but in my life. As something is coming to an end, I start looking for the next thing to fill the gap - not providing space - or time for an ending.
So I have been challenging myself to finish things around the house, whether it be a bottle of lotion, the container of hummus, the task at hand, or the to do list. My goal for March is to start finishing things and then get rid of the empties and create space.
I have managed to get rid of the empty bottles that have been piling up in our storage locker by donating them to charity.
I now make sure that one jar is done before another is opened in the fridge.
I am still working on the lotions, but two of them are decreasing in volume, depending on if I shower in the morning or evening.
And I am almost down to a reasonable number of shampoo and conditioner bottles in the shower.
I have learned:
that things can come to an end and it is alright,
that if something needs to be replaced, I can replace it,
that the extra space does not need to be filled - especially if there are three more items that do the same job in the cupboard, and
to focus on what I need, why I want things and what is important.
All these great lessons, that started from spring cleaning and a few extra bottles of lotion.
Insight can be found anywhere - you just have to be open to it.
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