Conscious Space – Physical and Mental

Most of the time, my house looks fairly orderly. However, when my suitcases are half-unpacked in my bedroom and my bed is unmade, I know my soul is in trouble. The longer it stays that way, the more trouble I'm in.

Conversely, when my home is clean and organized, it is either because I am in a creative and proactive space or because I've had caffeine (and gone on a cleaning binge). Or Samantha has been there (my part-time housekeeper).

And I've been in houses that were so super-clean, that they felt sterile (I tend to the opposite direction).  It's hard to relax in a lifeless place, so my sensory apparatus subsides.

The penny dropped for me during a More To Life Weekend many years ago while I was explaining about the necessity of being awake to Life As IT IS in order to live the life of a spiritual warrior. It occurred to me that, in order to be awake, it's important to have my senses turned ON. It's easier to have my senses turned ON when I'm in an orderly environment. The opposite is true also. In a slovenly, disorganized environment, I tend to shut down to my senses. I don't want to see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything. I park OFF (as the South Africans say) and endure my time there.

Insurance actuarial tables conclude that drivers of clean cars have fewer accidents than drivers of dirty cars. And my experience is that I drive my car more carefully when it is clean.

At the moment, my home office has piles – stacks of things that I could probably throw away and never miss. But what if one of those piles has something that I would truly regret throwing away? One of those piles has been there for over a year. I can't even remember what's in it. I just know it's stacked there for a reason – a good reason, I'm sure.

And mentally, there are stacks of old experiences in my mind that occupy space. I am sure I would feel easier in my skin if they weren't there. But what if I need something in one of those stacks to protect myself?

Hmmmm. 

PS  That's not a picture of my desk. And I'm not going to mention closets and drawers – physical or mental. But there IS a corollary.