All about Love, Life, Relationships

The start of the Chinese New Year last week reminded me of what I used to do on New Year’s Eve. I had all these little rituals that I followed when I was much younger: my list of resolutions, the polka dot or the red dress, the bunch of calamansi stems tied with a red ribbon, the 12 round fruits (or is it 13? Until now that still confuses me.), peso bills stuffed into my pockets, coins strewn around the room, the lucky charms to ensure a year’s supply of prosperity, love, joy (you name it, there was a charm for it) and so many others that I’ve forgotten. I even used to jump at midnight so that I’d grow an inch or two taller. But no amount of jumping made me grow beyond 5 feet. Still, no matter what rituals we religiously follow, all are intended to jump-start our lives or put them back on track.

Looking back, I do not really know which among those charms or rituals did bring me what I wanted. But now that I’m a little older and wiser, I’ve learned that there’s something more basic we must do to usher in a year that’s as light and bright as we can make it: remove the clutter and the excess baggage in our lives.

It’s pretty easy for so many things to take over our lives without our being conscious about it. That’s because most times we go through life only half awake. Over the years, we unintentionally accumulate bits and pieces that weigh us down and keep us stuck. There’s stuff we don’t use – those we’ve outgrown but hold on to and those we buy but store for some special moment that still hasn’t come. There’s stuff that’s disorganized and crammed into drawers, boxes, and closets. Then there are also those shattered dreams and broken promises, regrets, unresolved issues and unfinished business we keep buried deep within us. All this mess pollutes us. It also keeps us going round and round in circles and draws to us the same experiences although they come in different packaging and intensity. This sucks the life out of us and leaves negative energy in its wake. Unless we do some serious spring cleaning to remove the clutter inside and around us, we will never break free of this vicious cycle.

Spring cleaning prods us to bring things out into the open. It compels us to really look at the stuff we’ve hoarded and those parts of ourselves that we’d rather keep in the dark. It pushes us to act on those regrets, to dream new dreams, to bring closure to whatever is unfinished and to take that leap which brings us to where we want to be. It prompts us to finally use the things that we’ve been saving for that perfect future moment and give away stuff to those who have better use for them. When we put things in their rightful places and clear up the spaces we occupy, the air around them begins to feel healthier, lighter. When we clear the spaces without, we simultaneously create an inner space within us – a place of peace and possibilities. Suddenly, there’s room for growth, for something new to unfold, for something good to come in. But to nourish this creative space within, we need to consciously do something new, different and courageous every opportunity that we get. Each time we take on a new perspective or hobby, read a new book, wear something different, dine on our grandmother’s finest china, sleep on the scented linens reserved for special guests, bring plants into the house, open our windows, light our decorative candles, we invite more freshness, affluence, joy, harmony, and order into our lives as well. Each time we forgive, build bridges, learn to trust all over or when we are brave enough to let go of something that no longer works – be it a thought, a belief, a relationship, or a thing, we honor two very important life processes: creating order and letting go. These two processes allow us to reclaim lives we’ve lost to possessions, to outdated notions and beliefs, to dysfunctional relationships, to routine, to procrastination and fear. More importantly, they allow freshness to seep in and for life to surprise us. And when life does, it finally becomes the great adventure that it was always meant to be. Then, we know that not only have we succeeded in reclaiming our lives but even better, we are on our way to living our best life yet.