4 Tips to Refresh Your Home
February 6, 2015
Sometimes we all need a reset button. Let’s face it.
Things go stale, get off track or have come full circle to a completion. Life is designed to be a constant iteration of itself. Change is constant. When things get “stuck” it's life communicating to us that is time to let something go.
Be it ego, expectation, a job, relationship, habit or simply a piece of furniture. Trust that you already know the answer.
So what do we do then? Well, it’s time we hit the reset button.
Here is a universal law to consider. When we let go of what no longer serves us, we create a vacuum of space for the ‘New’ to enter. This applies to all areas of our lives, so can apply the same principles to our personal space.
Here are 4 tips I personally use to hit the refresh button in my home environment.
Start with Gratitude.
It’s about mindset. If it’s time for a refresh, it’s because the tides are turning and we are ready for a fresh entrance into a new cycle, no matter how small or large.
Without judgement, recognize that whatever is not working for you now may have served you well at some earlier point of time. Practice being grateful for the purpose it filled in your home and in your life. (Emphasis on the word “practice” as it’s an ongoing skill to refine).
Gratitude also helps keep the mind out of “lack mode”. I get sucked into this one. If we focus our mental energy on what we don't have, what is not working, or just get stuck on “being stuck”, it becomes the filter in which we see the situation, ourselves, our home, our lives, the world… and fill in the blank here… Our thoughts are quite powerful. What we focus on, expands as we create (consciously or unconsciously) our life moment by moment.
2. Time to Start Chucking and Organizing.
This is when I personally embrace the less is more modo. Now that we have shifted our mindset to gratitude, it is now time to LET GO. So where to start? Look around. What is old, no longer serves its purpose, its function or is just too emotionally painful to look at? Pinpointed it? Great. Time to remove it from your living space.
This past week my boyfriend and I removed an old, uncomfortable mattress and replaced it with a bigger, softer mattress (goodbye achy back! Literally!) We chucked a few other items that were taking up space (goodbye big clunky air conditioner). I moved a few furniture items around for better flow and balance and then began decluttering (Goodbye stacks of magazines I don’t look at and overflowing drawers). I’ve gotten pretty good at this.
If you are clearing out objects that you are emotionally attached to or have remnants tied to an ex or past business (for example) this is the harder work and can get fairly uncomfortable.
Many years ago, a theater teacher once taught me the value of learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, because the “uncomfortable” will more certainly appear again and again in our lives. This has been one of my most valued skillsets I practice and will continue to practice throughout my life. Many emotions can be uncomfortable to feel. Give yourself a cushion of time to honor this process. Please be gentle and kind to yourself.
Be prepared to just sit and ‘be” with the emotions that come up. Objects can be triggers for unresolved issues that resurface to be healed. Take this opportunity like a golden nugget. It is a gift. Need extra support? Call in a friend or work with a coach who can guide you through the process and can help illuminate the path when things get murky and rough.
3. Clean It and Clear It.
Think cleaning is a chore? Time for a mind shift. I love cleaning because it signifies to me RENEWAL. It also signifies honoring the home. Kind of like washing the dog is an act of love. It is genuinely expressing care for something that we intimately involved with.
I often clear a space when I am cleaning it. By that I mean that I open the windows and allow the space to breathe. When the weather gets cold we keep the windows locked and the air inside gets stale. It needs to move.
Need to clear the space of negativity? With the windows open, light a small smudge stick of sage and sweetgrass to lightly smoke the room using a feather to direct the smoke. Smudge each room, window and doorway entrance. Imagine the sage swallowing the negativity and the sweet grass welcoming the new. This also an act of blessing the space. Clear and bless. When you are done return the ashes to the earth with gratitude and thanks. I have been using sage to clear and bless for 20 years and I love this ritual.
4. Put a Stamp On It.
New space, new phase, new anything? Set an intention to create a container for the new energy. G and I are definitely feeling a sense of “newness” and now a bit of momentum. For this year, we crafted a very loving intention for our space. An intention is a statement that outlines our desire for the space. It is filled with creative energy that can active a space as well a act as a north star as you craft how you want to experience your space.
Ps. you can change your mind anytime you want. Nothing is set in stone. Practicing setting intentions is an action of conscious creativity, for your life, for a piece of art, for a space. It is the intangible magic between and beyond the tangible.
Not sure sure what you desire for your space? Take some time to “sit still” with the inquiry. Meditate to gain clarity on what it is you really want to experience next. Our home is a living, breathing container of energy.
What do you want to fill it with?
Thank you for taking this journey with me.
From my heart center to yours,
NOEMI
