Starting Fresh In 2022

Do you feel a bit down after the holidays? It’s common for many of us and inevitable for me so I like to fill the lull between Christmas and New Year with activities that help me clean out some clutter. It always helps energize me to start the new year feeling refreshed and unburdened.

Get organized

For many of us, that requires decluttering so we can organize what we have. My dog-eared copy of Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui gets reread almost every year. I’m always surprised at the number of things I’ve accumulated that I really don’t want or need in my life. A lot of the offenders are in my garage, but my wardrobe has its fair share too.

My wardrobe is getting a thorough go-over as well. I can honestly say I won’t need to buy another pair of blue jeans for many years. The thing is, I know I will, so I’m donating the duplicates I purchased that didn’t measure up. Mid-season may seem like a weird time to do a closet cleanout, but this is a well-deserved mini purge and it feels so good. I’m forgiving of things I’ve owned for many years, but if it was a new purchase in the last 12 months and I’ve decided it’s not making me feel confident or happy, I bag it up and donate it to the women’s shelter.

I’ve removed 95% of my old black exercise gear because frankly, it depresses me and that’s the last thing I want to feel when faced with whether or not to do that yoga class or take that walk. I’m finding fresh, happy colors everywhere on sale, so I’m having fun replacing them.

edit your email box

If you’re anything like me, your email box has accumulated lots of subscriptions you really don’t want. At one time or another during the year, I either decided I loved a brand’s products, or I signed up to get an initial discount. No matter the reason,  if I’m no longer excited to see them in my inbox in the morning, I unsubscribe. Labeling an email as spam won’t remove you from their list, it just prevents you from seeing them so to really clear that clutter, unsubscribe.

FYI-  some of you may wish to do that for this blog and you can do so at the bottom of every email I send you. 🙂

Bedside Drawer

Bedside tables seem to collect more than their fair share of “need to do’s” which is counterproductive to getting a good night’s sleep. My bedside table drawer houses my essential oil collection which has gotten out of hand so it needs to be cleaned out. I diffuse oils in several rooms daily and love to combine scents but along the way, I’ve bought several I really dislike. Just because I spent money on them doesn’t mean I have to keep them. If we allow things to make us feel guilty (you paid good money for this, you need to get your money’s worth out of it) then they own you.

Choose a word or theme

I gave up on resolutions many years ago and now like to choose a word instead. It sets an intention and acts as subtle guidance to keep me focused on a path I hope to go down. Merriam Webster chose ‘vaccine’ as the word of the year for 2021 because the word vaccine saw a rise of 601% year-over-year from 2020, which should surprise no one:) I have chosen easy. I’m pretty hard on myself about most things and finding it just isn’t serving me well so easy is my word for 2022.

What would your word be for 2022?