Our war torn inner landscape

A wounded and shell shocked solder wanders through the smoking wreckage of a battle field. Fires burn and his stare is focused some were in the distance. His clothes are torn, his body bloodied, he walks because he can't sit still, he can't pull his eyes away from the horror that is all around him. In the distance the sounds of battle still echo the boom of artiliary the chatter of wepon fire and the rumble of the heavery cavelry and still the solder walks on like a ghost touching this broken building or that ruined vehicle.

That dazed solder is us my friends when we let or mind fill up with clutter. The battel field is our thought prosses, not the decisions we make but the very way we make those destinations. Whether the clutter is physical, metal, spiritual, social or emotional it disrupts how we think and act. What we must do is learn how to clear the battle field and turn it in to something else, perhaps a park. Then once this transformation is complete we need to return the solder to civilian life and give him a new job, in keeping with the park theme lets say a gardener.
Transforming the battlefield

We need to let go. We acumulate stuff that fills our home, old cell phones kitchen gadgets and toys come to mind quickly Similurly we hold on to emotional hurts, inpractical ideas, memorys of insults or mabey guilt over long forgiven sins. We need to get rid of this clutter or make a space for it were it does not get in the way of our daily existence. In the proses of turning the battlefield in to a park this akin to opening a sculpture garden or perhaps a playground.

For example for years I have had the idea for a novel about a man and a taling cat on the great American road trip but every time I try to write it it feels wrong. For the time being it has been moved to the playground of my mental park. It is a thought that I still like to play with and look at when I have time but now it is not a distraction to me every day.

In contrast the the feelings of inadicuisy that I left my last relationship with have wound up in the dumpster. They are something i do not need or want in my house any more. They are the crumbling building that needs to be torn down and replaced with a nice picnic spot.

Another thing we can do to help the transformation from battlefield to park is to reclaim or rededicate our mental space to a new purpose. I have mentioned before about how it can be helpful to refight old battles in order to put defeats out of our mind. Another techiques is a simple rededication. By making a clear an conscious decision that things are going to be different from now on we can set the ground work for the clean up prosses.

Rehabilitating the solder.

Once we have cleaned up the battlefield the next proses we need to consider is how do we keep the armies of our daily struggles from overrunning the calm, clean park we have built. The answerer is one of those things that is simple to stay but difficult to actually achieve: we must retrain our solder for a pursuit other then violence. Let us say that he will now be a gardener tasked with keeping our park neat and tidy. he must learn how to pick the weeds from the grass, keep the play area clean and clear of broken glass and other things which may be dangerous to us.

How do we become that gardener instead of the shell shocked veteran? How do we stop the clutter from building up? The only answers I have for these questions are constant vigilance for things that could be clutter. Constant reevaluation of the condition of our environment and the willingness to put things away both physically and mentally when we are done with them.

If you have thoughts on decluttering life and keeping that way I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. I would be remiss in not mentioning that this post was inspired by some excellent thoughts from both Gretchen Ruben and Anshu. So before I tell you to have a great day don't forget to comment and follow the feed. that said have a great day!