April 30th, 2007
Head Clutter
I was racing around this morning trying to get all my Friday tasks completed in some vain hope of getting to go home early. I wasn’t asking for much, just to be able to indulge myself in a rare treat, being home by four for Oprah. Not for any special reason, just for the purpose of treating myself. The morning was coming undone. I was trying to wire transfer some money to a programmer in a foreign county. The address on the account did not match the physical address the developer had given me and the bank seemed suspicious I was wiring transferring money to a terrorist. By the time it was over, I was beginning to worry, about the wire transfer, about terrorism, about war with Iran, and about whether or not I’d remembered to pay the water bill.
As I ran up the stairs to my office I could hear the phone ringing and I literally tripped and fell in the hallway trying to get to my door. I made it to the phone just in time to catch an unhappy client. By the time I got off the phone I was literally sweating and my mind was reeling with panic that my water would be disconnected over the weekend.
The place my worst clutter hides is not in a junk drawer. It’s in my head. I’m guessing we have that in common. Now bear in mind, I teach yoga and spirituality classes. I meditate at least an hour a day and I can go from 0 to mach five in six seconds flat in my head. Sometimes I think the only thing a really get from my meditation practice is a greater awareness of when my mind is spinning out of control. I know that isn’t true, but sometimes I wish it was giving me a greater since of control over the junk in my head.
Head clutter is easy to hide. It’s like that mess behind closed garage doors. No one but you sees it, or so you think. The reality is when your head is a cluttered mess, everyone sees it. Everyone sees the panic, everyone sees the disorganization, everyone in the hall watches you fall down, everyone at the bank sees you come unraveled and everyone really knows… You aren’t coming unraveled over a wire transfer. Everyone sees your mental chaos. It’s not nearly as safe as a junk drawer.
Next month we will discuss in greater detail how to clear out the head clutter. But for now what I will say is this. It’s 3:40. I am leaving my office and I will be home in time for Oprah. After Oprah, I am turning off the TV, turning on the bath, lighting some candles and doing some mental house cleaning by doing nothing at all.
My wish for you this week is fresh air and sunshine in your head, lots of breezy spaces.
Make a priority to be clear headed. It’s Spring and change abounds. You’ll need a clear head to navigate the waters.
Lisa
