Day 131/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: contented
It's the end of Mother's Day here today, my heart is full. My home has the telltale signs of my small family gathering for a night and day of sharing meals together, conversations from the heart, dreaming and planning.
Dishevelled cushions on the couches, silverware and crystal on the kitchen bench, breakfast leftovers in the fridge, additional towels hanging around the bathroom. All lovely signs of life being lived. Life that I love to drink in until it is part of me and the memories are deeply embodied.
Keeping order in the home is the topic for today's inspiration.
A topic that was drummed into me in no uncertain terms during my formative years.
I've noticed that clutter and untidiness is surely a measure of the state of one's mind. With the people I have shared my many homes with I have observed with curiosity, the state of their living spaces.
Observing the state of my own family's rooms along with the state of their mind, waiting patiently for signs that they were working things through, that they were coming to terms with their worries, that things were getting sorted. Then suddenly the space would also be tidied and brought back into order.
For this reason I'm not one for having rules around tidiness. It's more important to me to observe my inner state reflected in my outer surrounds. It's information, data to work with, or at the very least, to be aware of.
Look around your spaces. Do you have clutter or disarray in places around your home or office? How does that reflect what's going on in your mind?
If your spaces are habitually untidy, try tidying up just one small section and check in to see how you're feeling. Take things slowly and don't spend time berating yourself about things not being in order. Use what you see as information and experiment at little.
Neat freak would be a good description for my habitual tidiness, and nowadays I'm enjoying some disorder as a statement about life being lived here. I like that a lot.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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