Posts tagged past
12 Compassionate Organizing Concepts Inspired By This Unusual Year
12 Compassionate Organizing Concepts Inspired By This Unusual Year

There have been many words used to describe 2020. In a recent article in The Washington Post, readers offered their one word or phrase for the year, including “exhausting, lost, chaotic, relentless, heartbreaking, transformative, and the year of missing.” Perhaps the word that I heard (and possibly used) the most was unprecedented. It was that kind of year. We tried our best to navigate the unknown, find strength when life got worse than ever imagined, extend compassion and grace to ourselves and others, and find some balance in a continually changing situation. 

It’s been a harsh year, a year of struggle. We needed love, compassion, support, and connection more than ever. With pandemic restrictions reducing in-person contact, technology played a starring role to help us virtually spend time together. I blogged and had meaningful conversations with you throughout these past months, as we experienced and worked through this year together. We shared our silver linings and losses.

Being a reflective time of year, I am revisiting the past before moving ahead to the future. As part of the review, I selected highlights, one from each month, of the most compassionate organizing concepts of 2020. My hope is you discover a seed idea that will inspire your New Year. 

Where do you want to focus on creating the level of organization and balance that you desire? Which people and projects will receive your time, energy, and attention? 

12 Compassionate Organizing Concepts

Winter 2020

Fresh Start - How to Choose Words That Will Positively Affect Your Fresh Start

Your life and success will not be defined by the nouns you choose. It will be defined by the verbs.
— Todd Henry
If you’re not sure about the change you want to make, give yourself some ‘wander time’ and see what transpires.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
Next might need to be a big dose of self-compassion. Or, perhaps it will be you reaching out to someone else that is hurting.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
What expectations of normal am I letting go of today?
— Rick Breden
Mind clutter worry is unproductive. And as it turns out, it’s a good teacher too.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
In your mix of doing, are you making time to notice and embrace the good stuff?
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
Motivation is in the growing.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
A goal doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We need help with accomplishing our goals and celebrating them along the way.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
It is in the practice of shifting attention, awareness, and return that we become more mindful.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
We live in challenging times. Yet even in the darkest days, there is hope. There is love. There are possibilities.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
The initial sadness for not being able to gather has morphed into positive anticipation for the ways we’ve reimagined the holiday.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO
Feeling balanced is a fluid and a continually shifting dynamic.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

My deepest gratitude goes to you for being an integral part of this vibrant community. We’ve had an incredible year of conversations and sharing. You bring learning, growth, support, and inspiration to every exchange. Thank you for coming back again and again to participate and share the best of who you are. 

What inspired you this year? Which compassionate organizing concept resonates most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 
 
3 Valuable Ways a Professional Organizer Can Help You
3 valuable ways a professional organizer can help you.

Mindfulness meditation is one of my daily practices. Some of the benefits I’ve noticed is that exercise helps me to be more fully present with my attention, gratitude, and experiences. Mindfulness practice emphasizes the present, encourages us to let go of the past, and not stress about the future. These are useful pursuits. However, when it comes to helping my clients with their organizing challenges, there are other considerations. While we are working in the present, we might be grappling with the past or preparing for the future.  It’s useful to be aware of how a particular focus, as in the past, present, or future, will influence the ways your organizer helps you.

The Past

When we hold on to the past, it becomes especially difficult to let go. That can influence the volume of physical belongings that we’re hanging on to or old ideas that no longer serve us. When we’re living in the past, our minds and spaces have little room for the present. An organizer can help you face the “stuff” of the past to decide what is valuable and relevant today.

A client recently told me how she held onto things from the past because she felt that it was a happier time than the present. While organizing together, she identified that was no longer true for her. The now was, in fact, really good. With that ah-ha moment, she was able to release many physical belongings she had been reluctant to let go of before. This perspective shift and action that resulted helped her feel less burdened and more open to new possibilities.

The Present

When we are present-focused, we can more easily determine what is relevant and useful now.  Stuff enters our homes through free promotional items, gifts received, or shopping trips made. We often spend more time collecting than intentionally choosing what we actually want. Yet when we’re clear about what is meaningful and useful, it enhances the editing and organizing process.  It’s not uncommon to become overwhelmed by the number of shirts, toiletries, or desk supplies you own. Your organizer can help you set parameters, make decisions, and create organizing systems that honor your present-focus.

The Future

There are times when organizing work has a future-focus. While we are working in the present, we could be preparing for the future such as a move, job change, or arrival of a new baby. Using a future focus will influence your decisions. When you are amid life transitions like these, not all of your current belongings will be helpful. They might not be useful, relevant, or functional. They could have served their purpose and are strong candidates for releasing. Using a mindful, future-lens, your organizer can help pose questions to facilitate beneficial decision-making.

Whether your organizing work is past, present, or future-focused, with the help of your organizer, you can approach the process more mindfully. It’s useful to understand how your organizing goals connect with these periods, as they will influence the choices you make. 

Have you enlisted help from a professional organizer? How has the past, present, or future focus influenced your work together? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 
3 Useful Time Tips That Will Give You a Powerful Pause
Powerful+Pause.jpg

It’s that point in the year when people are wondering, “Where has the time gone?”  I’m thinking the same thing. I don’t know about you, but to me, it feels like wearing my winter coat and setting New Year’s intentions were only moments ago. Yet here we are in the first week of June. It’s delightfully warm, the spring flowers are blooming, and the time has whooshed  by. The thick layers have been stored away. My first of the year intentions have born some delicious fruit. The changes happened in what feels like the blink of an eye.

One thing that’s useful to do, especially when you’re at a midpoint, is to take a pause. It’s like a taking a breath, only with time. Use your break to look backward, look forward, and then refocus on now. With the mindfulness meditations that I practice, there is an emphasis on being here now. The idea is that if we spend too much time in the past or the future, we miss the present. While I understand that concept and strive to be more present, there are times when I find it beneficial to reflect on the past and to think about the future. It’s possible to do this in the context of living now. Drawing on your history and making plans about the future enable you to live more fully in the present.

Time includes the past, present, and future. While we live in the now, we have arrived here because of choices we’ve made and the experiences we’ve had in the past. We live in the now, yet have aspirations and hopes for the future. Those wishes influence the actions and thoughts we focus on today.

We can take a reflection pause at any time- the middle of the day, month, or year. I encourage you to take a midyear pause now. Below I provided you with some questions to get your thoughts flowing. Other ones may surface. I’d love to hear what comes up for you.

3 Time Tips for a More Powerful Pause . . .

The Past

When you think about this year so far, what stands out? What have you noticed with the intentions or goals you set? Have you been surprised by the outcomes? Do you want to keep doing what you are doing? What strengths have emerged? What habits do you want to stop? What are you grateful for? Have you experienced any challenges that were fertile ground for learning? What have you learned? 

The Future

Is there anything you want to course correct? Are there any commitments you made that you want to release from your full plate? Do you have a goal or intention that you want to revise? What change do you want to make by the end of the year? Is there something you need more of? Is there something you want less of? Is there a new habit you’d like to incorporate?

The Present

How have past decisions influenced your current experience? Where do you want to focus your attention? How do your future goals affect your daily living? Are thoughts about the past or future negatively affecting your present? What will help you live more fully in the present? What is a present day “must” or “can’t live without?”

While time doesn’t stop, we can take a deep breath in and exhale slowing as lean in for a thoughtful pause. There are times when we keep going without doing a deep dive or analysis. However, it’s beneficial to stop every so often to examine, question, continue and refocus. We look back and ahead, yet we live in the now.

Do you take pauses? When do you like to make them? What questions do you ask? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Join our conversation!

 
Now Is Better

On a recent visit to the Jewish Museum in New York City, I saw Six Things, a collaborative installation by designers Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh. The piece included short videos, a sound-activated sculpture, and six maxims taken from Sagmeister’s journal that he says have increased his personal happiness.

While all six ideas resonated with me, I couldn’t stop thinking about one in particular, “Now Is Better.” It’s so concise and clear. It speaks of mindfulness, being present, realizing that the past happened and the future hasn’t arrived. Sagmeister’s three words remind us to embrace this moment and time.

I’m not saying that the past isn’t relevant or that the future doesn’t matter. The past holds our history, lessons, and memories (good and bad.) The future encompasses our hopes, dreams, fears, and possibilities. However, we can’t turn back time or fast forward ahead. We can be here right now.

Do you find yourself wanting to return to the past? Are you stuck? Do you find yourself wishing for this time to end so that you can move on to that next thing? Does your future focus detract from or enhance your current experience? What would happen if you focused your energy and thoughts on where you are right now? What would that look like? What would that feel like? Would it change anything?

I am grateful for the past. I look forward to the future. I am happy to be here with you now. Where are you? What are your thoughts about now? I’d love to hear your ideas. Come join the conversation.