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Tag: Decluttering

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Published on 3 Comments on Clean Sinks and Creativity

For the past two weeks (I started two weeks ago today!), my kitchen sink is clean (I got this idea years ago from my therapist, and then later from the Fly Lady website). This sounds pretty small, maybe unimportant. But it's making a noticeable difference for me, for my state of mind and I think for my creativity.

See, I'm a slob. And I have too much stuff, but I really like having all of it, but I am not good at organizing or tidying, so...my house is a cluttered mess. And dirty, because the clutter makes it nearly impossible to clean floors or really anything else. And this natural state of mine leaves me anxious and depressed and creatively blocked. So I decided I need to find a way to change things.

I've been on this bandwagon before. A few times. So I'm trying not to get too excited. But this time I do feel like it's different. I'm not trying to immediately add in a new thing as soon as the sink is clean. I'm just sinking in to that habit (pun not intended, but now that I noticed it, I'm keeping it!). I'm going all Kaizen-Muse with this.

So far the hardest part is fighting off the thoughts that this is too small and is never going to help me get to the bigger goal of a tidy and welcoming and organized home. I just tell myself it doesn't matter if it doesn't go further. This habit is giving me lots of good things all on its own--a feeling of accomplishment; better meals because I don't order carry-out or get fast food because there are no clean pans for cooking and I'm too tired to clean them; space to work when I want to make something, even when it's just making my lunch.

I have an inkling that there might be deeper payoffs, too. This past week I found myself doing some writing and capturing some really fun new story ideas. I've been doing a little bit of art journaling even though I don't have clear space to work in. I started designing embroideries for this year's The 100 Day Project.

Are these related to my sink project? I don't know. I do feel like there are some feeling shifts stemming from the clean sink initiative (yes, I do watch a lot of superhero movies). My plan is to continue with this until it really sinks in and becomes a habit. This is going to take longer than the 21 days that gets tossed around in regards to habit building. I think that 21 days is only true if you are trying to build a brand new habit, not when you're also trying to overcome old habits. But that's another conversation.

I'm planning on writing about this house cleaning thing (tidying? I do like the word) more. Report in on how its going, report on any changes and additions. For now I just wanted to put it out there, say that I'm doing it, see if anyone else is feeling this pull to clear their space and make room for more of what they really want.

So drop me a note and let me know about your cleaning and tidying. We can share tips and cheer each other on.

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Published on 3 Comments on Spring Cleaning

On Friday, I wrote a blog post about the small changes I've started making in my environment, working to make welcoming, creative spaces for myself.  Over the weekend, I actually completed one of those spaces!

I took my very cluttered, dirty, disorganized bedside cubes and turned them into a space for my books on creativity, other inspirational books, my journal, and a pretty vase full of flowers.  I also completey forgot to take a before picture, and the difference is incredible so I actually regret not having one.  But this is my new, bedside creative space:

Bedside

I'll probably swap out the print above it at some point, but I'm always inspired by Amy Brown's art so this seemed like a good piece to have there for the moment.  I'm going to be adding in some art journaling materials, at least my cute container full of colorful markers and a glue stick.  I've left myself some space to add things I find that I want nearby.

I tried having all of my creative supplies upstairs in my actual studio, but I can't resist the pull of working in my bed (much to my boyfriend's dismay, especially if he's away for a weekend, because I tend to pile things up on his side!).  I have done most of my reading, writing, homework, everything while sitting on my bed since I was a little girl.  I finally realized that this is how I do things.  Putting everything up in my studio with no place for it to live next to my bed just means that I'll bring down what I want to work on and then pile it up around the bed because I don't have a good spot for it.  It makes more sense to make space for the things I want to have near me.

A view of some of the books and things in the cubbies.
A view of some of the books and things in the cubbies.

I'm feeling very accomplished and satisfied by the weekend's work.  And it was a lot more work than I imagined clearing out a relatively small space would be.  There are books, papers, and journals stacked along the wall halfway up the staircase.  I have no idea how all of that stuff fit in those cubbies!

And, as you can see, I celebrated my accomplishment with some fresh flowers.

Spring Celebration FlowersMy next move is some journaling and contemplation to see what part of this ongoing project calls to me next.  I'll keep you posted.  And I'll try to remember those before pictures next time.

Is anyone else working on their creative spaces and clearing the clutter?  I'd love to hear your stories!Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Published on

Over the past couple of years, both here and in the newsletter, I've touched on the idea that your physical space and your mental space reflect one another.  And about how you need proper space that feels good to you to do your creative work.  I've briefly brushed up against ideas about clearing clutter, organizing, creating welcoming creative space.  But I've approached this at a distance.  I haven't really been living it at all.  I know it's important, but I haven't been able to really devote myself to it before now.

This week, though, I knew it was time to step into this and make it real.  I've been thinking about it, planning about it, even doing a little work, but for the most part it was all abstract.  This week, I have been bombarded with mentions of decluttering, organizing, etc.  And several of them were in relation to creativity.  If that's not a message from the universe, I don't know what is!  And I know that my emotions and creativity and thought processes all work better when I have even a slightly cleaner, clearer, nicer space to be in.  Imagine what my brain could do if I gave myself a really great space to be in!

I want clean and orderly things around me to open the way to the bright, shiny freedom I see here.
I want clean and orderly things around me to open the way to the bright, shiny freedom I see here.

I declare that I am reclaiming my spaces and making welcoming creative places for myself and my work to flourish!

There.  That's what this is all about.  I'm not going to promise a particular schedule for these blog posts (check under the category "creative space" or the tag "reclaiming" if you want to see more of them when they're done).  But I am going to actually do the work and write about it here.

I'm a little (a lot) nervous about this.  I don't know for sure that this is something I can do, this cleaning and organizing and creating a beautiful space for myself.  There are two of us in our house, and we both make incredible messes.  We are creatives, we are makers, we are busy, and we are naturally slobbish.  You don't want to know what this does to the hard-to-reach nooks and crannies of our house.  Or even the not-really-hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. So I don't know exactly how to do all of this.

I do know this: I am not following any particular plan or organizational/cleaning system or anything like that.  For the longest time (years I'm embarrassed to admit) I would make plans about where to start and what order to clean things in, etc.  And it never happened.  A little cleaning would happen, but it's barely been enough to make a dent.  Now I am following my gut.  And that seems like it might work out, actually.

Last week I felt a pull to clear out the bottom of the linen cabinet, so I did that.  The week before that I cleaned out a massive pile of clothes and magazines and papers that was piled behind the bedroom door making it impossible to completely open it.  Yesterday, after a week or so of having an idea of how I wanted my bedside table to function, I started clearing it out (it's actually two of those stackable cube thingies, so it's four cubes with space under each unit for more storage of stuff that sits on the floor).  In the space of two weeks now, I have made visible changes in my environment.  This is better than I've done in a long time, so I think this "follow my intuition" plan might be the thing.

Anyone else looking to clean and organize and create the space they want to live in?  I'd love company and conversation about it!

Photos:  I know everyone loves before and after pics.  I will post pictures of areas when they are done.  I can't bring myself to post the before pictures.  I promise I will take some so that someday, if I'm feeling feisty and braver, maybe you'll get to see them.  But not right away.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail