Spring Cleaning From The Outside In (a checklist)
Today I want to talk to you about connecting to your life and your relationships in a deeper way.
I am 11 days into my REVIVIFY REBOOT and at this point in the journey we are disconnecting more from food and all the baggage that so often comes with it, while taking the opportunity to reconnect with a deeper place in ourselves, our environment, and the people around us.
I notice the sky looks bluer and I am trying to listen with more openness to my loved ones. I smell the rain and see the popping green of Spring more vibrantly.
I think it's pretty darn amazing to recalibrate your taste buds, but hitting the reboot button on your entire life and all of your relationships – now that's out of this world!
I'll say it again, that's the power of REVIVIFYING your life!
I've heard that how a person manages their stuff is the same way they tend to manage their emotions. Take a look around today. What's your stuff trying to tell you? Is it neat and organized or is it all stuffed away in a closet that you don't have to look at?
As I move deeper into cleansing myself from the inside out, I have the urge to take better care of everything else in my life.
So in the spirit of deep cleaning my body & soul, I deep cleaned my house. Extremely intensely, I might add. I pulled each and every thing out of each and every cabinet and each and every drawer, and either tossed it, recycled it, or organized it.
And I wiped everything down.
Needless to say, my car is now completely filled to the brim of things to recycle, donate, return, and clean. But my house feels like an absolute sanctuary!!
I promise, the feeling of finally wrapping up some unfinished business or of giving your closet a good purge will leave you feeling lighter and more energized – purified from the outside in!
I encourage you to take some time this weekend towards cleaning up your space. Even if just with baby steps. Clear off the counters, clean out your inbox. When our stuff is clean and organized, our thoughts are clear and focused. And when our thoughts are clear and focused, our emotions are real and authentic. The net result is a better, more balanced, fulfilling life.
Can I get a Hell Yes?!
Spring Cleaning From The Outside In (a checklist)
Deep Clean Your House
_____ Clean out your closet: take all of your clothing out your closets and drawers and go through everything one-by-one. Pair your collection down to your most essential and most beautiful basics. Get rid of the rest. Wipe down your closet, invest in matching hangers, then fold and hang everything to perfection and put it back into place. Take any shoes that need new soles to the cobbler. Take any clothes that need to be altered to alterations. Take any dry cleaning to the cleaners. Do all your laundry.
_____ Clean out your kitchen: take everything out of the cupboards, wipe everything down, and get rid of anything non-essential or that you haven’t used in awhile or that is expired (you wouldn’t believe how many expired spices I had in there!) Do the same for the inside of your fridge. Put only the essentials back into place.
_____ Clean out your desk & your "junk" drawer: take out everything from your desk or "junk" drawer, wipe everything down, and get rid of non-essential items. Toss old business cards, pens that leak, markers with no ink. Get a desk or drawer organizer and put everything in a place organized. Get rid of any old electronic cords or headphones that don't work.
_____ Deep clean your house: Empty every drawer, cupboard, or closet, wipe everything down, get rid of anything non-essential. Put only the essentials back into place. Wipe every surface down, dust everything that needs to be dusted, sweep every floor, mop every floor, and vacuum every rug. If you haven’t gotten your rugs professionally cleaned ever, take them to the dry cleaners (you’ll breathe a lot easier!) If this feels overwhelming, just take it in baby steps. Choose a room or a project and start on that first.
_____ Deep clean your bathroom: Take everything out of the cupboards and drawers. Wipedown your cupboards and drawers. Get rid of your plunger and your toilet brush and purchase new ones on Amazon. Clean your toilet and your bathtub/shower. Get rid of anything non-essential or that you don’t use. Recycle empty bottles. If you wear retainers, take them out of their cases and soak them in white vinegar. Put their cases in the dishwasher. Scrub the retainers with a toothbrush then put them back into their case. If you use a tongue cleaner (I highly recommend you do), throw it out and purchase a new fresh one.
_____ Shred all papers: I am pretty focused right now on not having any kind of “paper” in the house. Especially since it tends to accumulate over time. Go through all of your papers, determine what you can recycle, and what you actually need to keep. Then, of the things you need to keep, get the Evernote app, create a notebook (mine is called “Essentials”), and scan all of that paper into the notebook. Then shred the paper copy. This is a process for me because I love to hold on to old cards or love notes, and old journals. Just find a balance that is right for you.
Clean Your Bags
_____ Clean out your purse, your luggage, and your toiletry bags: Take everything out, wipe down the inside and outside of your bags. Throw out anything old or that you don’t use anymore. Refill your travel toiletries. Take the bags to the cleaners if they are overdue to be professionally cleaned. Put only the essentials back in place.
_____ Clean out your makeup bag: Get rid of anything that is old, expired, or never worn. Wipe down or clean the bag. Wipe down all of your makeup containers. Clean your makeup brushes using water and a gentle cleaner (like Dr. Bronners), dry them. Put only the essentials back in place.
_____ Clean out your grocery bags: Throw away all the veggie bits that have somehow accumulated in the bottom of your shopping bags. Turn the bags inside out and throw them into the laundry. You only need 2-3 grocery bags so get rid of all the extra ones that have accumulated over the years. Dry and put in the back of your car.
Clean Out Your Electronics
_____ Organize your computer: Delete any old files, and organize your file folders so that there is a place for everything and everything in its place. Clean out your “download” folder and your “trash” folder.
_____ Organize your phone: Delete apps you no longer use on your phone. Organize your apps so that everything is nice and tidy. Delete old Spotify playlists and pare them down to your favorite songs.
_____ Delete old social media profiles: Delete any social media accounts you don’t use anymore. That includes Periscope or that old Twitter account you got just so you could follow the musings of certain presidents.
_____ Unfollow people: Go through everyone you are following on Instagram and unfollow anyone you are not obsessed or who does not inspire you. And definitely unfollow anyone you are not really friends with or are just following because you are afraid to unfollow them (this is not Facebook people, they can keep following you, you can just stop following them!).
_____ Unfriend people: If you are on Facebook, unfriend anyone that is not actually one of your CURRENT friends. If you are hanging on to them just because you knew them at one point, you’ll just feel the weight of them every time you post. Plus they take up valuable social space that you can use to invest in the friends who are currently filling you up.
_____ Tidy up your online presence: Google yourself. You may be surprised to see all of the places you or your picture pop up. If anything out there is not relevant to who you are right now (or could hinder you in future job searches), email the person or company that mentions you and ask if they can please remove the post. And if you see any links to online profiles you used to have, log into those and delete them. Keep it clean.
Give Yourself A Reboot
- Reboot from indulgent foods: This means eating less food overall (never feel completely full); eating less oils, trans fats, and salts; and clean out processed sugars from your diet. This includes: white sugar, cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, & corn syrup. Artificial sweeteners like Truvia, Equal, Splenda kick em' to the curb. Sweeteners you can incorporate: Honey, maple syrup, molasses, date syrup, brown rice syrup, coconut sugar.
- Reboot from excessive spending: This means eating more at home and cooking simpler meals. It may mean no shopping sprees or purchasing big vacations. Use money for simple joys, not exorbitant delights.
- Reboot from time fillers: Spend less time watching TV and less time on your phone.
Once this process was finished, I had several piles of things to take care of: things to throw away, things to recycle, things to send to Goodwill, electronics to be recycled, things to return to friends, book donations for the library, coins to deposit at the bank, clothing and upholstery to be dry cleaned, and a couple random disposable cameras to have developed. I piled all of this stuff into my car and will be making my rounds of errands throughout the next two weeks.
Now that our lives are empty of all excesses we have the time and space to focus on sleeping well at night, eating healthy and nourishing foods, spending more time in nature, playing with friends & family, quiet mindfulness and journaling.
I wanted to deep clean my life so that I feel nice and open to whatever the Universe has in store for me. It’s like when you get rid of all of your clothes (Marie Kondo style) and then suddenly your closet has a lot of space in it. A few months later when you find the perfect top or shoes for your current shape and body there’s the perfect space for it in your closet!
You aren't holding on to that shirt waiting for the time when you can fit into it again. You are celebrating you and your sanctuary right NOW!
That’s how I feel. I don’t know what is missing in my life, or what is coming up for it, but I would like to make room for it so that when it comes, I’m ready. Whether that’s a new job, a move to a new home, or simply a new haircut, we’ll have the space in our lives to welcome it.
