I am a homebody. For as long as I can remember, there was no better feeling than being home. And I feel like I finally created the space that feels the most like me. Its simple yet colorful; Christlike and nerdy; nostalgic and modern. On its best day, it is warm and inviting. I can walk in, tell my Echo to play my favorite playlist, light a couple of candles and instantly transport into my safe place. This is a place where I can cry myself to sleep and have dance parties while I clean. Even in its best days, I still have problem areas. Stacks of mail that act as a never ending to do list; closets full of things that I need to be rid of but I am unable to and boxes of unfinished projects.

On its worst days, the things I’ve tucked away in its proper space begin to spill into my safe haven. As the list of things to do begin to creep into my living space, I feel the anxiety build up. My unfinished projects begin to appear on the living room floors, reminding me to exercise, or finish hanging up a wall decoration. Then I am suddenly made aware of all of the things I have accumulated that are of no use to me any longer and I feel overwhelmed and exhausted. This is one of the reasons I dedicate time to clean every weekend and I’m working on decluttering my space completely with the help of the book The Life- Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

In the same way, that my home needs tidying up and decluttering, my mind needs it too. My heart can be overrun with the anxieties and stresses of the world and I need a weekly cleansing. I try to use my free time to tidy my mind of all the things that spilled into the safe space. The emotions I need to release (anger, sadness, stress , worry and unforgiveness) are cleansed in the quiet mornings, the long showers, prayer, worship and meaningful conversations with friends. And I don’t need to just rearrange and store these thoughts into other areas to come up again when triggered. I need them out of my life. So the remaining part of the year, I am working to minimalize and declutter my home and my heart.