A Year to Clear Read online

  Round up one thing, pile, or area for one minute every day for a week.

  Pick a spot: Choose an area that looks like a tornado hit it (or isn't quite up to your desired standards): your desktop, kids' toys, the fridge, your car . . .

  For best effect, choose the same area and time every day.

  Set a timer if you need one, and notice the energy in the space (and in you) before, during, and after your clearing.

  Have fun!

  This simple daily practice helps to calm the fight-or-flight response and builds new neural pathways in the brain that make clearing increasingly doable and effortless.

  Tailor this exercise to suit your needs. For example, if it feels like too much to round up a whole room or area, reduce the round-up perimeter to smaller areas or piles in your home. Conversely, if it's too easy to do one room, expand the round-up to include other piles or spaces in your home.

  Explore

  One area I can easily round up for sixty seconds every day this week is . . .

  The idea of repeating the same task for a week feels . . .

  DAY 97

  EASY DOES IT

  You don't need to go full-throttle, go away for six months, or have a life partner to refresh your home. If you're willing to take it on as a journey that you experience instead of a task that you have to complete by a certain deadline, you'll get on a roll too.

  The key is to keep tasks small and simple. Follow the rule of one: address one thing, one pile, or one area in your home for one minute every day—with awareness.

  Pay particular attention to your breathing, and how the energy feels before, during, and after. Repeat this every day until the process becomes natural and effortless.

  Explore

  When I reduce a task to one minute and repeat it, I notice . . .

  When I insert awareness into a task and repeat it, I feel . . .

  DAY 98

  CHECK IN—MOVING THINGS, MOVING ON

  The focus this week was to see how moving things around creates greater ease, flow, and openings that we never could have imagined before. Simple repetitive practices help us gather the loose ends of our home and our life.

  How has adopting a simple daily practice of moving things around helped you become more balanced and aware? Have you noticed an increase (or decrease) in motivation to clear other areas of your home and life? In what ways do you feel less scattered (or more) this week?

  Explore

  Moving things around every day this week has helped me . . .

  I feel more (or less) motivated this week . . . (because . . .)

  Ways that I feel less (or more) scattered this week . . .

  WEEK 15

  INVITING CALM

  Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile.

  —Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment Wonderful Moment

  DAY 99

  RINGING PHONES

  Ringing phones jangle me. If you saw the way I flinch and lose focus, you'd think it was the president himself calling from the Oval Office to say the country was in a state of emergency. And I must respond. Or at least check to see who's calling so “urgently.”

  It doesn't matter if it's my phone or someone else's, if it has a beautiful ringtone or is set on vibrate; the effect on my nervous system is exactly the same.

  What happens to your breathing (and your state of mind) when any of your devices ring, ping, or vibrate?

  Next time your phone rings, use it as an opportunity to take a deep breath . . . in . . . and . . . out . . . for five seconds before you check to see who's calling. Notice and breathe into the discomfort of needing to know.

  Explore

  When my devices ring, my breathing becomes . . .

  Postponing my need to know feels . . .

  DAY 100

  WELCOME CALM

  Our devices give us a terrific opportunity to practice cultivating calm. Here's how one of my students, Withpaint (an alias), has made friends with her phone and computer:

  I have changed how I use my phone now. When I am taking time to be with someone, I put my phone on quiet and out of sight. I limit my time on the computer, and have a sign on it that asks, “What else could you be doing now?” . . . I took FB [the Facebook app] off my phone. It can wait until I have that spare time to catch up with what is happening. I do not need to know every day, every minute what is happening to my friends, and although I love learning about herbs/feminist issues/news/cute animal tricks . . . they now have a place and time.

  What is one way that you find calm in your life?

  Use today to practice cultivating calm. Call it in. Step into it. Invite it in, like an old friend you haven't seen in a while.

  Explore

  One thing that calms me is . . .

  Calling calm into my life feels . . .

  DAY 101

  PHONE HOME

  In his beautiful book of mindfulness verses, Present Moment Wonderful Moment, Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh offers an alternative way to answer the phone:

  When the telephone rings, the bell creates in us a kind of vibration, maybe some anxiety: “Who is calling? Is it good news or bad news?” . . .

  The next time you hear the phone ring, I recommend that you stay exactly where you are, and become aware of your breathing: “Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile.”

  How does it feel just to say those words out loud?

  Explore

  To breathe in calm and breathe out peace feels . . .

  When I use Thich Nhat Hanh's phrase before answering the phone, I feel . . .

  DAY 102

  SHALLOW BREATHING

  Maybe it's not a ringing phone that sends you into fight-or-flight. Maybe it's walking into a room that is a cluttered nightmare of piles everywhere. Maybe it's being late for an appointment, or having to confront a difficult family member or coworker.

  Use today to connect the dots: Identify and write down the situations that cause your breathing to contract and grow shallow. This can be very subtle.

  See what happens to your breathing when you witness it without attachment.

  Explore

  These days, situations like these send me into fight-or-flight . . .

  My breathing becomes shallow when . . .

  When I witness my breathing without attachment, this happens . . .

  DAY 103

  CALMING MEDITATION

  Today, practice this one-minute meditation. It is a simple and powerful exercise to quiet the mind and deepen the breath.

  Close your eyes, and take a nice, easy breath in and a slow, emptying breath out . . . Breathe out all thought and tension. Breathe in pure awareness and possibility.

  Notice and allow how you are feeling at this moment, without judging it as good or bad, or taking it personally.

  Repeat Thich Nhat Hanh's phrases slowly, matching the pace of your breathing: “Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile.”

  After a minute has passed, or when you feel complete, open your eyes.

  Notice how your body feels. Notice what goes through your mind.

  Can you hear me now? ;-)

  Explore

  Before the meditation, I was feeling . . .

  When I repeat Thich Nhat Hanh's breathing mantra, I feel . . .

  I feel most calm when . . .

  DAY 104

  FULLY FUNDED

  As two self-employed worker bees who never know where the next check is coming from, my husband and I have an affirmation that we use to support our feeling spacious and calm around money. It was inspired by our good friend Desda Zuckerman, and it has never failed us:

  My life is fully funded by the Bank of God.

  Try it: Close your eyes and repeat this phrase out loud. What does it feel like to know that some greater force out there has your back, that your life is unconditionally covered?

  Here's the thing about money: We cannot manifest a good livelihood without being willing to receive it.r />
  Explore

  Saying “I am fully funded by the Bank of God” out loud feels . . .

  I trust that a greater force out there has my back because . . . (Acknowledge the part of you that is not so sure.)

  DAY 105

  CHECK IN—INVITING CALM

  The focus this week was to invite calm and receptivity by using simple tools, like our phones, to practice breathing and mindfulness. No one sums the heart of the practice more beautifully than my online student, Veronika B., with this inspiration here (she credits Jayem's Way of Mastery): “Breathing in calm I have learned and used the following mantra for years now, though I still forget: Breath first, mind last, heart and feeling in the middle.”

  In what ways do you feel calmer this week? What are you ready to receive more of in your life?

  Explore

  I feel more (or less) calm this week in these ways . . .

  I am ready to receive more of this in my life . . .

  WEEK 16

  TURNING UP THE LIGHT

  Light reveals us to ourselves.

  —Anne Lamott, Help, Thanks, Wow

  DAY 106

  MOOD ELEVATORS

  Generally speaking, the journey of clearing is about releasing things, not acquiring them; letting go, not holding on. That said, it is also true that material objects that make your heart sing are not clutter. If they brighten your day, help you feel supremely good, connect you to a quiet place within, they are not clutter—or an extravagance.

  As I reflect on the things that lift and nourish me, I could probably come up with a whole slew that make my day every day. One of my favorites is twinkly lights. They are a mood elevator on a string, and one of the best inventions ever! I have a 100-bulb strand draped in my kitchen and one framing my back porch. As soon as it starts getting dark, bling!, on they go, making every day a holiday in my house.

  What lifts your spirits? What helps you feel lighter and in the flow? What turns up the light in your life and helps you feel more spacious?

  Explore

  One thing that lifts my spirits and lightens my load is . . .

  This thing makes me feel . . .

  DAY 107

  LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE

  What are you vibrating?

  If you are vibrating at the level of “poor me,” “there's not enough to go around,” “I'm afraid for my kids, my future, my life”—or any thought or fear—guess what you're going to get more of?

  Conversely, guess what you'll get if you're vibrating at the level of “I trust the universe to supply me with what I need when I need it.”

  You do the math. It's your choice. As always.

  Explore

  Right now I'm vibrating at the level of . . .

  One thing I can do today to raise it up a notch . . .

  DAY 108

  IT'S ALL RIGHT

  What goes through your head when you read the following words by Abraham-Hicks?

  If you knew everything was really all right, and that it always has a happy ending, then you would not feel trepidacious [sic] about your future. Everything is really so very all right! If you could believe and trust that, then, immediately everything would automatically and instantly become all right.

  Did you feel a gulp or get snagged by the concept of everything having a happy ending? Feel the charge, feel the resistance, and let it go. That is the work.

  Explore

  When I see the words “happy ending,” I feel . . .

  I know that everything is really all right because . . . (Notice the part that isn't so sure.)

  DAY 109

  CONFIDENCE BOOSTERS

  What helps you feel confident? What boosts you when you start to contract, collapse, or cave in?

  I posed these questions to the brilliant circle of students on my DailyOM course, “A Year to Clear What's Holding You Back!” and this is what some of them had to say:

  I feel it when I finish a project. I lose it when procrastination takes over and I make excuses for not making progress. Through this course and all the other inspirational messages out there, I am seeing my light shine within. And with all the light within us, we are beacons in this world. So shine on. (Julie T.)

  Surrender was my way last night. I could see how much I still strive, effort, and try hard, etc. Yet I long to go with the flow. I can't swim upstream and downstream at the same time. As I surrendered, ease came to me, and with it, trust. And trust IS confidence. (Veronika B., inspired by Abraham-Hicks)

  What boosts me when I contract—if I am aware enough to notice that contraction and I challenge its truth or lack of it as the feeling unfolds—[is that] I can often talk myself out of the spiral of eroding confidence. As we have shared here, a lot of this insecurity is just . . . not . . . true! Come to think of it, sharing those collapsing feelings in a supportive environment helps a lot too. (Linda Z.)

  On those days when you're feeling a little wobbly in the confidence department, or your self-esteem takes a hit, you can go deeper by asking yourself this question: What am I ready to cast aside today that might allow (even a peephole of) my dazzling light to come through?

  Explore

  What helps me feel confident and light . . .

  I'm ready to cast aside . . .

  DAY 110

  YOUR BEST SELF

  What words would you describe your best self? Write them down on a piece of paper or in your journal. Choose one of the words and focus your attention on it today. Without apology.

  Explore

  Words that describe my best self . . .

  Naming them without apology feels . . .

  DAY 111

  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

  What if I told you that you are one hundred percent worthy?

  Yes, worthy. As in deserving of love, kindness, abundance, respect, joy.

  One size fits all.

  Explore

  What I would do if I knew that I was 100 percent worthy . . .

  What would change if I knew that I was 100 percent worthy . . .

  DAY 112

  CHECK IN—TURNING UP THE LIGHT

  The focus this week was to “turn up the light” in our homes and lives by remembering these simple truths: All is well, there are no mistakes, and we attract at the level that we vibrate.

  Raising our personal vibration is a choice that is easier to make the more we cultivate well-being and worthiness.

  In what ways do you recognize the light that you are? What does it feel like to shine your light more brightly, without apology? In what ways do you know for sure that all is well?

  Explore

  I recognize my light in these ways . . .

  To shine more brightly feels . . .

  I know that I have nothing to worry about because . . .

  WEEK 17

  SOUL CALLING

  When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

  —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

  DAY 113

  GIVING UP DOESN'T PAY

  In 2007, I published my first book. It was a thing of beauty. What most people don't know is that bringing my baby into the world took about ten years. And then some. The arc of the journey looked something like this:

  I wrote: A lot.

  I prepared: I took classes on how to write a book proposal and stellar query letter.

  I pitched: I sent my stellar query letter to two dozen literary agents.

  I crumpled: I was (graciously) rejected by every single one.

  I revived: I found the strength to pick myself up, gather what I'd learned, and press on.

  I recommitted: I took the entire book apart, opened up a new Word document, and started again.

  I celebrated: I self-published. Sold many copies. Got the attention of a publisher. Received a book contract to create a new and improved edition.

  I began again.

  Those are just the highlights, of course. The real story that this abbreviated chronology is not tell
ing could be more simply summarized with these simple truths about a soul journey:

  Journeys do not always add up, make sense, or go in a straight line.

  Every obstacle informs, and every step matters.

  When you feel lost, you aren't. You just can't see what's up ahead.

  It would take me years to see the unfolding of a bigger picture, and hindsight to appreciate the potential impact of bailing on my dream.

  If I had quit, there would be no book on which to build a platform. Without the experience of a no, I would never experience the sweetness of a yes—a yes that would eventually lead to teaching and reaching a whole lot more people with books like this one.

  So you see, it doesn't pay to give up on your dreams.

  The dream machine is leaving the station. The time is now. What are you ready to take a chance on? What is holding you back?