It’s Not About Spring Cleaning This Year…

September 9, 2018

I wanted to connect with you again and see how you’re doing as we shift into fall. You see, I used to always be a bit sad about fall. I wanted the beautiful green leaves to stay and the hot summer sun to keep beating down. And yet now, it has come to be a time of year I love.

I have been noticing the leaves changing for a few weeks now. And they have taught me something interesting about how the trees let go. They don’t just instantaneously go “it’s fall, time to drop leaves!” and poof they all fall to the ground. No, nature does things much more slowly.

If you watch a tree throughout the year, which is a wonderful practice by the way, you’ll notice just a few leaves start to change colors at first. It takes time, and sometimes days go by. Until the tree easily, and seemingly without effort, releases what it once needed to sustain itself, and which now is no longer needed by it.

The trees know that the ground needs the natural fertilizer of the leaf to cover the ground, to nourish the soil, and to provide warmth and cover for all the tiny creatures that crawl under the leaves. The trees know they need to release what they no longer need in order to go inwards over winter.

And how do we, as humans tend to let go? Well, sometimes we avoid it altogether, other times we just do this massive purge of emotions and possessions in this basically overwhelming yet kind-of cathartic outburst of release.

Then there is the middle road, the one that models Mother Nature.

To gently notice what patterns, whether emotion, physical, or mental, show up in your life that are no longer helpful to you. To let one or two clear things show up and evolve over a few days, or even longer, until it clarifies that yes, it is time to let this go.

For me, I’ve been really noticing this urge to clear out the closets. One in particular actually. It is full of just, stuff, that I might use “one day.” It’s kind of useful, once in a blue moon, and the rest of the time, it makes it hard for me to get what I need out of there or to even shut the door without something flying out of it. (Like the time I opened the closet door and the broom fell out, hitting the cat, who is now terrified of the broom AND that closet …not good!!!)

There’s too much clutter and accumulated stuff in there, that I honestly have little use for.

And as the outer reflects the inner, I’m asking myself what that closet represents in my internal world.

I now know what that’s about, and maybe not so surprisingly, it is about the clutter that being on my phone brings into my mind. The to-dos and the emails and the distractions. Like reaching into the closet and taking too long to find what I need, reaching for my phone to do one thing often leads to a distraction and a frittering away of time.

Is this sounding familiar to anyone? And I notice this gently, with as little judgment as possible, in order to let it go.

And so, with that. I offer my suggestions to others, and to even to myself, for fall. To notice what is showing up in your life that needs releasing, but allowing it to clarify over a number of days or weeks if it needs to. If you know sooner, then that is fine as well. Then, actually letting go and making a change. Even if it’s just one small step, or letting go of one small item.

For me, I will plan time in my day to clear out that closet, in the literal sense. And I have also (finally) dug out an old, simple, cell phone to activate. I’ll start with 1 day a week to use it. To rediscover the time I miss out on by not having a smart phone available for distraction. I’ll also be turning my smart phone off during the evenings more, so as to consciously enjoy my time at the end of the day. 

For supporting changes through the fall, there are two helpers that have come forward, a crystal, and a Flower Essence.

The first is a Carnelian crystal. It is without a doubt an energizer and a motivator, to bring courage to make the changes that you need to take. These are easily available at a local crystal shop.

The Flower Essence is Hornbeam….traditionally used for having trouble starting a project or task, also known as (ahem) procrastination. If you find that once you start a task, you get in the groove and can continue without a problem…it’s just getting started that’s tricky, then Hornbeam is a good place to start.

If you know you have something to do, a closet of your own to clear out, give it a try and see what helps. Setting the intention to start with just one small step is a useful place to start.

I wanted you to know that I also offer custom Flower Essence blends to support you in your life, with the challenges you are currently in and working through.

If you’re not familiar with Flower Essences, they:

• are a simple and powerful way of supporting your emotional and spiritual health through the help of the plants.
• are a vibrational medicine (somewhat similar to a homeopathic remedy).
• My favorite definition of them is that they are Soul Healers from the Plant World. Oh how I love those words.) 

I make them from local plants, as well as using the Bach Flower Remedies. If you’re curious or would like a blend made specifically for you, just click here to get my contact details and we’ll get you connected to some healing plant medicine :)

And so, I hope you are enjoying our shift into the cooler weather, of starting to clear out the closets and in turn, creating space in your life for the things you enjoy and the things you want to be doing with your time.

Enjoy the changing seasons.

In gratitude,

Lisa Matthews