Take a good look around you. What do you see? Is it pleasing to you? Does your environment uplift you; or does it drag you down? I believe our environment says a lot about us, and how we approach our lives. What do you think?
Maybe your desk looks like this one, with things thrown haphazardly around. I suspect that stack is like an archeological dig, with each layer representing a period of time. What a busy person this woman, blog author Callowlea is! Ok, I’ll have to admit it. It IS my desk, and it DOES speak to the kind of person I am, and the kind of life I lead. It’s a bit chaotic, at best. I hate that, I really do. As I have said before, I am someone who craves order (and serenity, but that’s another post). I continue to strive for it, and I may just need to start with my desk.
Are you a neat person, or a messy one? What does clutter do to YOUR soul? To eliminate clutter, I turned to the Flylady, an expert in such things. She has an amazing system for eliminating clutter, and bringing an end to chaos in your life. Although I was terribly impressed with the system, I couldn’t seem to find a way to incorporate it into my life… or at least, not yet. I live in hope.
What kind of things are in your life? When you look around you, do you see contemporary furnishings, antiques, or a mixture of the two? I love antiques, and believe they are like old friends, who are a comfort to us. You can look at them, imagine where they have been before, what scenes they have observed, and what lives they have lived. There is such character in a piece of antique furniture! I can only imagine what that says about my personality.
Although I love antiques, I only have a few pieces. My environment can best be called Early Poverty. That charming style was the one I had when I got married years ago. You know the style: leftovers from parents and friends, thrift store finds, and the occasional new piece purchased with all of our savings. It’s charming when you are young, in love, and newly married. After several divorces, I find myself with the Early Poverty style again. Fortunately, this time I have the antiques, from a husband who loved them as much as I do. What is your style, and how did you come to have it?
Who is around you? When you look at the people in your life, what do you see? Are they positive and uplift you? Do they deflate and demean you? I think we have people clutter in our lives, too, and the clearing out of that clutter is more difficult than a messy desk. Often, it is impossible, because people are so much more important than things. You can love someone who demeans you, so you leave them stacked on your desk just a little while longer. This is especially true with family and friends. We are essentially hopeful, we humans, and I am particularly so. I live in hope to achieve a clean desk and find order in my household; and I also live in hope for the relationships in my life.
What do you see when you survey your environment? Tell me about it! I’d love to know.
~C-Lea
