When talking about clearing clutter, most people think about tangible clutter related to physical spaces like your home, closets, storage, car, etc. However, today, I’d like to call your attention to another important space where you might accumulate clutter that impacts every area of your life, yet many overlook it. It’s your internal home, your internal space or inner world. In this blog, we’ll explore internal space, the clutter that you might unintentionally accumulate, and how that clutter directly impacts your life. We’ll also cover how aligning with seasonal rhythms creates space to consistently clear the clutter to make room for what you truly want in your life.
What’s the current state of your inner world?
We live in a society that moves so incredibly fast and teaches that your value is tied to your productivity and how much we do. As a result, many have disconnected from the state of their internal space at any given time.
That pressure keeps you from slowing down and reflecting, which is necessary to maintain a connection with your inner world.
And, let’s be honest, many of us accumulate so much clutter in our internal world that we fear slowing down and examining what’s there.
Everyone’s experienced that before. Feeling scared to open that one room or closet in your house that’s become the untouchable space that hides everything you don’t want to get rid of, or don’t know what to do with, is common.
Well, you also have internal rooms and closets in the house that is your inner world. They hold the good, the bad, and the ugly. All of life’s clutter you’ve accumulated over the years that you’re uncertain of what to do with lies there.
Just to be clear, clutter isn’t necessarily negative. Actually, there’s lots of clutter that you actually want to keep, but it’s often mixed in with so much dust and mess!
Some examples of internal clutter are:
- Beliefs that no longer serve you
- Unresolved hurts and past traumas
- Past versions of yourself that need attention and space to speak
- Habits and behaviors that haven’t been assessed for relevance
- Inherited values impacting your actions and decisions.
- Guilt, shame, and embarrassment
- Grief
- Self-hate, self-loathing, or deep self-neglect
- Unresolved questions about life direction and purpose
- That untouched to-do list that’s been in your mind for weeks (or months)
- Unfulfilled dreams, desires, and ambitions that have fallen by the wayside
Many things act as internal clutter, but what you may not realize is that your physical space is often a reflection of your internal world
For example, there was a time when the dust on my dying plants indicated some dust accumulation in my inner world that desperately needed attention.
The more clutter you hold in your inner world, the more disconnected you become from yourself. The more disconnected you become from yourself, the more often you neglect your physical world or need to cope by consuming more stuff.
Specifically, some common symptoms people face when they have gathered internal clutter that needs attention are:
- A struggle to focus and have clear thoughts
- Lashing out at family members
- Feeling irritable
- Feeling numb and disconnected from yourself
- Struggling to get rid of physical clutter, even when there’s a desire to
- Coping through buying things you don’t necessarily need
- Persistent feelings of overwhelm
- Feeling unrested even after a full night’s sleep. Restlessness that doesn’t seem to go away
- Anxiety and feeling there’s never enough time
When you move so fast and constantly prioritize productivity and performance, one of the first things to go is your connection to yourself and your ability to clear the natural build-up of clutter. This disconnect lies at the root of the dis-ease many people feel within themselves. That dis-ease creates clutter in your physical space.
I have repeatedly seen that when people I work with address their internal clutter, they have an expanded capacity to deal with the clutter in their physical space.
Do you struggle to know where to even start with clearing the clutter in your home? Does your anxiety continue to build with each day that your house remains dis-sheveled? Don’t beat yourself up or sink into self-judgment. Instead, take this great opportunity to step back and ask yourself, “What is the current state of my internal home?”
Check off which of the symptoms resonate with you. Then, look at the examples of internal clutter and see if there are any that feel relevant to you.
Again, if you’ve struggled to face your physical clutter and feel overwhelmed, shift your attention to your internal world and take a moment for a check-in. Read on for a simple strategy for doing this that you can adopt into your life immediately.
So, now that you’re aware of your internal world and the clutter that can accumulate there, what do you do? How do you actually start to clear it?
Becoming aware of your internal clutter and making the time to clear it doesn’t need to be complicated. It’s not necessarily easy or the most comfortable, but it is approachable.
One way to start clearing the clutter in your internal home is to use the wisdom of nature’s seasons.
If you look at nature and how she operates, you see it’s not in a linear manner. In other words, the earth operates in rhythms and cycles.
Nature allows space for death, rebirth, times of abundance, and times of lack. There are natural ebbs and flows: seasons where things grow, and some where they don’t. There’s time for clearing, sometimes gentle and sometimes not. Above all, there’s a rhythm, a flow, and a cycle you can rely on. You know the sun will rise, and it will set, for instance. There’s comfort in the predictable aspects of nature, even amidst some unpredictable events.
If you allow yourself to step back for a moment, you’ll notice it all comes from nature. We are nature. So, you aren’t meant to function linearly either, but in flow with these rhythms and cycles.
When you can connect back to the natural rhythms and cycles of nature, it helps you reconnect with yourself
Again, one of the outcomes of moving too fast is becoming disconnected from yourself and the state of your internal home.
But you are not meant to live a disconnected life.
Moreover, aligning with seasonal rhythms grants you permission to experience ebbs and flows. You can create space for reflection, and release the things that are ready to die so that others can be reborn and start anew.
To be healthy inside and out, it is necessary to release and let things go. But many never learn to maintain their internal world.
Aligning to the seasonal rhythms gives you space to slow down and pause for a moment.Then, you can check in with yourself. At each season’s change, you have the opportunity to reflect. First, consider what emerged or what may have not gone so well in the previous season. Next, reflect on what you want to cultivate going forward.
If you don’t find time otherwise, then aligning to the seasons at least ensures for four times a year, you will pause to reflect, assess, and realign. Even the busiest among us can make space for quarterly reflection.
So, how do you align to seasonal rhythms, and what does it look like?
It’s actually pretty simple. You know the standard four seasons, right? Spring, winter, summer, and fall.
Seasons aren’t just reflective of the weather and the changing colors of leaves. They’re reflective of shifts in nature and potential shifts in you.
Each season is tied to a different direction that holds meaning and intention. Many of our ancestors used the four directions as a way to not just physically orient themselves, but to stay aligned internally.
The seasons give direction and focus. We’ve all got a lot going on, and it’s hard knowing what to focus on all the time. By knowing the simple intentions that each season holds, you can reground yourself during moments of overwhelm, overfunctioning, or disconnect. This gives you space for considering where you are, what you need, what’s working, what’s not, and where shifts are possible.
To illustrate, here are some simple intentions tied to each season:
Spring
Spring is connected to the east direction and is all about awakening. It means new growth and possibility. It’s the start of the seasonal new year. If you’ve ever felt misaligned to the January “new year, new you,” it’s probably because that’s actually the winter time, when you should be resting and reflecting. Conversely, spring is the real “new year, new you.” That is, it’s a great moment to pause and be present with what is awakening and what new sprouts are emerging within you.
Reflection questions to help you align with the spring season:
What’s arising within me?
What ideas, inspiration, and visions are stirring up in me?
How can I pause to hear my intuition?
How can I create space to be present and watch the sunrise taking place within me?
Summer
Summer is connected to the south direction and is all about practice. It’s a time to allow the new growth that took place in the spring to be nurtured and expanded further. Lean into imperfect action over perfectionism. This way, you begin putting some of your ideas and visions into action. Whether starting a new project or taking time to clear and reset your internal or physical space, imperfect action allows you to move past obstacles and take on beneficial practices for your personal expansion.
Reflection questions to help you align with the summer season:
How can I create space for imperfect action and practice?
Which habits and routines can support me practicing showing up for myself?
What do I need this summer season? What’s worth prioritizing? Are there things I should set aside?
Fall
Fall is connected to the west direction and is all about purpose. Purpose is often overhyped and put on a pedestal. Here, you don’t want to overcomplicate your purpose. Align yourself to the energy of your soul or your deepest desire, whatever that is currently. Lean into purpose with the spirit of experimentation and discovery. This allows you to take intentional action toward your purpose.
Reflection questions to help you align with the fall season:
What transformation am I seeking and making possible by showing up for my purpose?
What’s working that I would like to stay in my life?
Is there anything not working well that I would like to release?
What space do I need to create to show up for my purpose in the spirit of experimentation and discovery?
Winter
Winter is connected to the north direction and is all about death and rebirth. This is probably the season and direction that hold the deepest opportunity for growth and possibility. However, they are often avoided due to difficulty. Winter is a time for true progress because it allows time to assess where you’ve been and what you’d like to release. Then you can decide where you want to go and reflect on what you want to bring into your life.
Winter is a beautifully powerful season offering the biggest aid for clearing clutter. People often associate clearing with spring. However, the clarity to clear arises when you spend time assessing and reflecting on what’s dying versus what wants to be further cultivated within you.
Reflection questions to help you align with the winter season:
What have I learned along my journey this year?
How can I make space to rest, reflect, rejuvenate, and repair in order to check in with myself?
What thoughts, patterns, and habits have been serving me? Which haven’t and are ready to die and be released?
Where have I accumulated mental, spiritual, or physical clutter? What wants to remain and what wants to go?
Make time for seasonal alignment
Schedule time at the end and beginning of each new quarter to reflect on these prompts. Use the intentions of each season and ground yourself in it.
Again, it doesn’t have to be complicated. No matter how busy life is, you can make time once a season to maintain a healthy connection to yourself and clear any clutter you don’t want. You can even put time in your calendar now to have an internal home check-in. I promise you it’s worth it.
In conclusion, if you’ve felt pressure to do everything all the time, or guilt when you try to take a moment, let this be nature giving you permission to slow down. Make room for the natural ebbs and flows of your life and use the wisdom of the seasons to keep your internal home clutter-free.
About Tiffany K. Hinton
Tiffany is the founder and CEO of Wild Mama, dedicating her time to facilitating the healing and wholeness of mothers for the benefit of the next seven generations. She lives and enjoys an active life in Hawai’i with her children and partner.