The journey of the cosmic colonic begins

So my many followers, okay, my two followers, are probably wondering, “Hey Bonita, why no posts since last week?”  This blog is the result of the changes I have made in my life in the last year and a half. What began as an attempt to honor the year of the rat evolved into my “cosmic colonic” which in turn led me to declare myself a DJ / Artist and start this blog. Let’s back it up to the year of the rat, shall we?

February 2008

Honoring the year of the Rat

The Chinese have some interesting New Year’s traditions. One of them includes cleaning your house until there is not a “speck of dust” left from the previous year.  I am a rat and the year of the rat began in February 2008. I knew it would be a prosperous year for our family and I wanted to honor the rat properly. However, with two small children, it wasn’t possible to clean my house in a fitting way. So I made a deal with the rat, I would do one thing in my house every day that year, to get my house to a standard worthy of la rata.

So I started taking care of all those little things around the house that had been bugging me. You know all those things that catch your eye when your walking through your home and gets added to your mental to do list which is already long and overwhelming. Dumb little stuff that never took more than 10 – 15 minutes, like wiping out the vegetable drawers in the fridge or hanging some pictures. Getting the stain off the bedspread or replacing some ratty bathmats. And each little task gave me such a sense of accomplishment while relieving some of the internal pressure that left me feeling overwhelmed all the time.

This is going to make someone very happy, but it’s not me

Once I started clearing out some of that gray noise in my head, there was room to take on more.  Closets were next. Not just the clothes I never wore, but the clothes I wanted to like but didn’t and the clothes I liked but didn’t wear. My mantra was: this is going to make someone very happy, but it’s not me.  And removing all the stuff I didn’t need uncovered some treasures. I loved how empty my closet was.  No more mental clutter and I was only facing clothes that gave me joy.

Can you hear the angels singing?

I kept moving through the house. How on earth could we ever need all these coats? Why am i keeping this set of sheets that don’t fit any bed in our house?  Do I seriously need 12 boxes of teaching materials when I am 80% sure I do not want to go back to classroom teaching? What the hell am I doing with all these scraps of wrapping paper? (Yeah, that one freaked me a little. I don’t want to be the old lady that saves pieces of twine!)

Redistributing my embarrassment of riches

I worked to find the proper owners for my embarrassment of riches. I had garage sales. I donate, I gave stuff to friends, family, neighbors.  I craigslisted hundreds of  items, many of them for free. I cleared out our storage space and then canceled it. And with every action, I felt a lightening. These gilded cages are oppressive. We have more than we could ever need and are miserable. Clearly, this isn’t what we were put here to do.

And every time I cleared out space, I left it empty. I would open doors as I passed by closets and just enjoy the emptiness. I didn’t want to start filling it all up with more crap, I wanted to fill these spaces mindfully. I bought myself art supplies for my  birthday, they found just the right home in the previously overstuffed laundry room closet.

I got rid of six pairs of shoes from the late nineties and  I began a six month quest for just the right pair of loafers.  Now when I wear my loafers, people stop me and say, “Damn Bonita, those are some nice shoes.” Okay, that just happened once, but everytime I wear them they make me happy AND are super comfy.

It's like a smile for my feet.

Filling the Space Mindfully

I want to fill this space mindfully. I want this blog to make you think and help you discover the changes you need to make to lighten your load. But I want to do it in a way that is sustainable to me.  Lord knows I do not need this to be one more homework assignment that I am always procrastinating and resenting because no one tells me what to do or when to do it.

So stay tuned. This blog will find its rhythm and I will post on a more regular basis. And no way this will only be a blog of growth and self discovery, BARF. But we have so much work to do and the first step is to get your shit in order. So I ask you, where can you start cleaning out clutter from your life?