Mindful Matters – The Emotional
Power of Stuff
Handouts from the Workshop
Intro into The Emotional Power of Stuff
Have you seen the number of storage units popping up across our nation? It’s estimated there are over 50,000 storage units in our country, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. That may not seem like a lot, but comparatively, that’s more than McDonalds and Starbucks combined! People seem to love their stuff more than they like their burgers, fries, and coffee. We are advertised to and easily manipulated into a sense of never having enough.
We humans develop an emotional attachment to the things we own; spending precious time, energy, effort, and money on all of the stuff we buy, collect, and search for. Yet, people are stressed, overwhelmed, and never satisfied. We are seriously impacted by too much stuff, too many options (FOBO, FOMO), and the stress and strain of over-consumption. Clutter is like “visual noise,” so this month in our Mindful Matters workshop, we will look at the emotional power of stuff and your “clutter tolerance.”
Everything is energy… yes, literally every single object, person, conversation, possession, room, and exchange is filled with an invisible energy. What are you allowing to exist in your home and in your life? Have you added quality to your life or just quantity? What kind of environment do you want to create? What really drives your purchasing behavior? Is there something deeper going on?
Your home is said to be your sanctuary. It’s a likeness to your deeper self. It’s a safe place for you, a haven that is a powerful reflection of what’s important to you and what you value. As you step into the focus this month, I’ll encourage you to take a fresh look at the environment you’ve created in your home and the conditions you are allowing in the spaces you occupy.
With a clean slate and renewed perspective, take some time to assess your surroundings. Be honest about the state of these specific areas:
- Living room
- Bathrooms
- Bedrooms
- Kitchen
- Closets
- Garage
- Basement
- Wardrobe
As you look around your spaces, consider this:
- What kinds of emotions or energy do you experience when you think about your home and the space you’ve created?
- Do each of these areas support the life you want to live?
- How do you feel when you walk into a certain room?
- What kind of conditions have you allowed?
- What are you over-looking or over-tolerating?
- What kind of excuses have you crafted?
- What do you want to change about this space?
- Are you ready to begin?