Hello beautiful people and welcome to this week’s dose of Celestial Goodness. Thank you as always for joining me in this space and on this journey. See this week’s video here: https://youtu.be/JpqklUE8W4M
August has been one of those months that has felt like several months packed into one. I sat down recently to look back over my calendar, and to see what things need to carry over into September, and I was really amazed at how much happened. I will make another video/post on that another time. Each month, I like to plan out some goals for the next month. This has been a very cool way for me to keep organized, anchored, and it serves as a great tool for remembering some of the things that I have done—both for my personal and professional life.
Now in August, I kept saying to myself, “Oh wow, that did happen, just last week!” Or, “I can’t believe that it has been three weeks already.” From learning astrology, and from just being on the planet for as long as I have now hahaha, I know that life can be like that—sometimes it feels like nothing is happening, but then at other times it feels like everything is happening all at once. Paulo Coelho said, “Life has a way of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all, or having everything happen all at once.” So August felt like a month with a lot of good reminders about life in general, lessons, blessings, and shifting tides.
A few lessons from August:
· Sometimes you need support. My houseplants remind me of this all the time. We need other people. Thank you to my people for infusing my life with love.
· Life will one day end. I had a dear relative pass away in the last month, and her burial was in August. Death always reminds me that this life is temporary. How are we deciding to show up in life?
· There is a quote that says, “Don’t let others pull you into their storm, pull them into your peace.” I would alter that a little to say, just don’t let them pull you into their storm. You don’t have to pull them into your peace, but don’t leave your peace for them.
· Laughter and love are always healing, soothing, and necessary. There is so much power in a hug, so much joy in laughing with people, and so much peace in knowing that we are love and loved.
So I say, “Thank you August for your lessons and blessings.” Now I am looking forward to September and to the fall. Gregory David Roberts said, “For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love; the passionate search for truth other than our own. With longing; the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on.” And we do keep living on, through whatever seasons we enter next.
I love all the seasons, because they have different things to look forward to, but this year, I am greatly anticipating the fall. I am looking forward to apple cider, the crisp but damp smell of the leaves in early October, sweater weather, and just the inward vibes that fall seems to bring with it. How do you know when you are transitioning into a new season of your life? What are the signs for you? I think that in the same way that seasons change, we can also feel when something is shifting in our personal world. I read a quote somewhere once that said, “Sometimes in the winds of change, we find our greatest direction.”
From an astrological standpoint, we are currently in Virgo season. That statement will mean different things to different people, but since Virgo is a mutual sign, it means that we are in an in-between. Mutual signs—Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius prepare us for the next season. Pisces comes before Aries, astrologically that is the beginning of Spring. Gemini before Cancer, and the beginning of Summer, Virgo before Libra, and the beginning of Fall, and Sagittarius before Capricorn, and the beginning of winter. In that sense, these time periods in our year are not just a sign of the changing season, but also a sign that something is ending. I have a whole blog and video on the beauty of letting go, so this is not about that. Rather I have been thinking about how we welcome the changing seasons, and how we welcome change in our own lives.
Also, having a Virgo mother who woke me up a lot on weekends to clean up—listening to her favorite oldies—I think that the simple act of cleaning up is one of the most powerful ways to welcome a change and to let something go. When I was growing up I was a pretty messy kid, but my mom was not. She was pretty organized, and like things to always be “in their place.” She drilled this into my head, and I think over time it really settled in. Even when I went to live on my own, I still would try my best to make sure that things were organized. Over time, this has evolved into me wanting things to be neat and orderly, and I can see the lessons and blessings from this. Mind you, I am not the neatest person that I know. I know several incredibly orderly people, who always have everything in place and who are immaculate in their ability to keep their space and their lives in some orderly and consistent manner. Admittedly, I am more cyclical. There are some spaces that will always be extremely neat (living room, bathroom, and kitchen for example), and organized (lessons from mommy), but then I might have clothes pile up in the basket, and then I have to take care of them type cyclical. Papers might need sorting on my desk, type cyclical.
Over the years, there are some important things that I have learned from my friends about cleaning and organization. Gretchen Ruben said, “Outward order contributes to inner calm,” and another powerful quote is, “Once you learn how to see how your inner turmoil manifests itself through your surroundings, you can reverse engineer this, mastering yourself by mastering the space in which you live.”— Shoukei Matsumoto, A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind. I believe it. Whenever things around me are disorganized, it almost feels like I can’t think properly. I feel like I need to organize so that I can function better. Clean your space, clear your mind. It is also easier to find things. I read somewhere that when things are out of place, people lose hours trying to find important papers—even their glasses. And it is also cost efficient to stay organized. Why? You don’t go out buying things that you already have!
So while I am no Marie Kondo, I would make the suggestion that in anticipation of a new season coming, and possibly a new personal season for your own life, that it is time to do a little “fall cleaning.” It is time to make room and make space for new blessings.
Some tips:
· You don’t have to do everything all at once. Start with one room or space, and then cross that off your to do list. Along these same lines, it might be a useful tip to spread this out over time. Instead of trying to do everything on the weekend, maybe commit an hour or two to one room/space/task during the weekday.
· Put things back in a specific place and commit to training yourself to putting and keeping things in their designated space.
· Dust regularly. This is probably the lowest hanging fruit, but as someone with asthma, it is also essential and makes a difference.
· Use music to help motivate you. All those years ago when mommy would put on a certain playlist, I already knew it meant cleaning time. But singing along helped the process.
· Remind yourself that someone out there could use some of the things you don’t need or use anymore. Trip to Goodwill anyone?
· My younger sister has a rule, one in one out. If you bring in something new, she is all about getting rid of something else to help create less clutter. I am not quite there yet, but it seems to be a concept that works for some people.
· Solicit help. If it is within your means to do so, you might decide to pay for some cleaning services, or even get someone you care about to help. You can also use different smart gadgets to help you stay organized, and to clean up!
· Just start, and if you fall off the cleaning/organization wagon, just start again. You got this!
I will say that I also had to look deep within myself once and acknowledge why I was holding on to certain things. Based on the way in which I grew up, there was an internal fear that we might run out of something. Or that I had to hold on to things like clothes or shoes and wear them till there was nothing left. Once I got older and had the ability to not have to do some of those things, I realized that it did impact some of why I hung on to things. Sometimes we have to let things go to make room for the things that we do want. If no one has told you this ever, let me say it. The universe is expansive and abundant, and you will be taken care of. You can let go of the ten thousand plastic bags you have under the sink or in that cabinet. Truly, it is ok. So, all of this is to say that I feel the winds of change coming in, I feel fall coming in, and I think it is a good time to think about what that might mean for my own life. To aid that along, I might spend some time deep cleaning, throwing some things out or donating some items, and then prepare myself for something else coming in.
As we move into the next week, I hope that you will feel more organized, and also more prepared to handle the next season of your life. May the stars shine over your week, and may it be a beautiful one indeed. If you are liking these posts and videos, please do like, share, comment, and subscribe. Also, feel free to share any of your cleaning or organizational tips! Thank you.
Celestial Goodness 