Today’s client was frustrated with himself because he’d filled up a recently clutter busted space with more stuff. I said he’d done that because the new space made him feel uncomfortable. When we remove clutter and create open space, we become more aware of what were feeling. If we’re feeling some pain, physical or emotional, we can react by filling up the new space, as a way to try and reduce or remove the pain.
I said he wasn’t alone. A lot of us have learned to be hunters of distraction. We find ourselves automatically searching for things to draw our attention away from pain. The motivation is usually unconscious.
I said it helps not to get down on yourself for the hunt. If you discover a de-cluttered space is filled back up, say to yourself, “Oh, well, I was hunting again.” And then go about re-de-cluttering. It’s learning a new way to live. It’s avoiding condemnation for the hunt. That adds more pain.
Life sometimes hurts. There’s no way around pain. Pleasure and pain trade places all the time. The more aware we become of what we’re feeling, the more we have acceptance of the temporary appearance of pain in the moment.
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You’re invited to join us for Letting Go Meditations every Saturday at noon PST and 3 EST on Insight Timer. It’s a gentle way to discover clutter and begin to remove it from our lives.
You’re also invited to join us for the Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back workshop every Wednesday at 2pm PST, 5pm EST on Insight Timer.
You can sign up at https://insighttimer.com/BrooksPalmer
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