With the start of the new year, as we put away the holiday stuff, it’s common for many to start focusing on cleaning and organizing our homes.  The evidence is apparent with what is on sale at the stores – storage bins, etc.

The annual ritual is sort of symbolic and related to needing to de-clutter our brains so we can begin anew.  I can recall needing to clean out a closet before studying for a big exam in college.  It was like then my brain had space.  Maybe it meant that I have OCD.

Regardless, January for me, along with many of us, means clearing out the past – literally and metaphorically, so we can make space for something new and different.  It is about letting go and allowing something new in.  I feel the letting go process every time I recycle, donate, and discard something, especially if I’ve held it for a long time.  I have files with newspaper clippings from the New York Times dated 1991 (maybe even before!)….I’ve moved a lot since then, so it’s weird thinking how often and how long some of this paper has traveled…

One of my (slow) goals is to go more and more paperless….There is a saying that paper should touch our hands only once.  It should then be either discarded (recycled) or filed.  I feel refreshed every time I see a space that I’ve de-cluttered and reclaimed for productive use.  It is an easy achievement I can pat myself on the back for.

De-cluttering and organizing adds to my sense of balance, simplicity, and more in line with my spirituality.