Tag Archives: recycling

Spring Cleaning Revisited

The most popular posts on this blog was Spring Cleaning — 50 Things to Throw Out. If you loved that post, I have a poem that you may love as well.

I picked it a few months ago for my meditation reading for the week’s yoga classes. And by some quirk of the universe, several friends and several students that week mentioned their need to clear out things that were no longer needed, to clean closets, to reorganize their lives.

Clearing

There is a logic to clearing drawers
throwing out papers, used and forgotten.

There is a reason to clear desks and files
putting aside what has already given of itself;

There is a purpose, there is a logic
there is a reason for everything…

We clear out minds, our hearts, our souls
we give ourselves a chance to start again
we accept the unacceptables
cast aside the imponderables
it is good business, it is life and it is growth.

The poem titled “Clearing” is by Barbara Paul-Emile and appears in her book The Dance of Life – Poems for the Spirit. The book was a serendipitous find at the Library books sale.

Spring Cleaning — 50 Things to Throw Out

May’s AARP Bulletin has a great list of 50 things to throw out — from your home and from your mind.

Examples: From your house

  • Old receipts
  • Keys with no locks
  • Souvenirs from bad vacations

Examples: From your mind

  • 75% of your insecurities
  • Fear of looking foolish
  • Times you messed up

For the full list, visit Spring Clean 50 Things from Your Home and Mind.

Check out Gail Blanke’s book,  Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life