Spring Cleaning From The Inside Out: Tying It All Together
Hello and welcome to the fifth and final post in our Spring Cleaning From The Inside Out series. Over the month of April, each Friday, we’ve explored how we can apply the concept of “spring cleaning” to refresh different areas of our lives - emotional, physical, relational and vocational. If you’re catching up, you can view all of our past blog posts here.
This journey has been through the lens of gentle curiosity rather than the constant “self improvement” slogans and advertising that are typically sold to us or associated with “spring cleaning.” Instead, we’ve been asking ourselves: what no longer serves me? What am I holding on to and what am I letting go of? What am I excited by? And there’s no right or wrong answer to these questions! Everyone’s version of “spring cleaning” will look different and unique to them.
Sometimes, struggling in one area of your life (e.g. emotional) may have impacts on other parts as well (e.g. relational). We’ve broken down each week of this series into different areas of our holistic lives to show that you don’t need to tackle it all at once - and not every area of your life may need the same level of consideration in this season - that’s part of the ebbs and flows of life!
To help with your reflection, the following journaling prompts focus on each of the week’s themes and encourage you to explore which area you may want to focus your intention this spring:
- Emotional: What emotions am I holding onto coming into this season? Are there any I want to let go of? If so, what’s stopping me?
- Physical: Is my body trying to communicate anything to me? Are there any changes I could make to my physical space (e.g. office desk, kitchen, bedroom, etc) that would spark joy for me?
- Relational: Which relationships are life-giving and which are life-draining this season? Are there any boundaries in my relationships that are being disregarded or need to be reiterated?
- Vocational: What are my beliefs around “success” and the narratives I tell myself of what’s a “good opportunity?” What do I want to be when I grow up?
I hope these questions spark a curiosity to examine your daily routines and habits through a different lens, with compassion. Spring cleaning doesn’t have to mean complete reinvention or an overhaul of your current way of living. That in fact can seem so daunting that many may not even want to start! Instead start small - what’s one thing you can change today? It can be as small as where you keep your tupperware or as big as researching that grad program you’re interested in. It’s never “too late” to make a change.
Whichever seeds of change you choose to plant this spring season, may they surprise and delight you with their blooms.
By: Maddy Weingast, Assistant for Wildflower Therapy LLC