Disorganization: What Do You Get Out Of It?

messy papersI don’t have a problem using the words of people wiser than me in order to make a point. Why try to say again what someone else has already articulated perfectly?

The “Meaning makes a great many things bearable” quote from Carl Jung cited in a previous blog is a good example of this habit.

Here’s one for today’s post, this one from Dr. Phil … oh come on, did I just hear some of you groan with disdain?

“You must be getting something out of the behavior or else you wouldn’t do it.”

Oh, how we love to disagree with this statement.

What do you mean, I HAVE to keep this crappy job.”

“That’s not true, I just can’t get out of this marriage no matter how bad it gets.”

“I’d really like to lose weight but that bag of Oreo’s tasted so good.”

“I love to get organized but I just don’t have the time.”

We have to face the fact that Dr. Phil makes a true statement: there must be some reward for any behavior or we would surely find another option. The “reward” might be something important and useful, like security or self-protection or health insurance; or it could be something less positive in nature, such as the avoidance of responsibility or the denial of personal power.

Being disorganized is only a problem if it’s having a negative impact on one’s life. But if stress levels are high because of it, if time is wasted because of it, if relationships are challenged because of it, and if being disorganized hinders a person from getting where they want to be in life (both literally and figuratively), then it’s time to take stock of why the condition persists.

As Dr. Phil says, there must be a reason this is allowed to happen.

If being disorganized has become an issue in your life, ask yourself:

What am I getting out of staying disorganized?
What’s the payoff?
What is gained by keep clutter around, or by not organizing the closet, or by not dealing with that rising pile of papers, mail, and bills?
What do I think I’ll lose if I get this mess cleaned up?
Why do I keep the same systems of chaos in place?
What’s the reward here?

Sure, it’s going to be easier for some people to make changes toward being organized than for others. But any plan to “get organized” isn’t going to stick if the reward for staying dis-organized has not been recognized. Once the rewards of both options are recognized, creating space for what really matters in your life can take place.

Jeanne Fiorini TarotWorks http://www.tarotworks.comJeanne Fiorini can provide lots of good reasons to get organized! Visit the She’s Neat website or contact Jeanne at shesneat@myfairpoint.net.

Neatness With A Cause

cgjung02%20(1)Along with Joseph Campbell, one of my favorite thinkers of the 20th century is Carl Jung. Not only did Dr. Jung live a long life in the public eye, he was very prolific in documenting his thoughts, theories, and world views. This proliferation of ideas has made Carl Jung one of the most oft-quoted figures in recent history.

One of my favorite quotes attributed to ol’ Carl is, “Meaning makes a great many things bearable.” Keep this thought in mind as you read on.

In the minds of many, the thought of de-cluttering a living space is equivalent to having a voluntary root canal. But I am quite sure that if some greater meaning was applied to the process — other than guilt, peer pressure, or that funky smell the origin of which cannot be specifically located — the project could actually become enjoyable.

Here’s the challenge:

There are two weeks left in the month of January. Between now and the end of the month your mission is to fill one large plastic garbage bag with items culled from your home. These items will be donated to the charity of your choice: a homeless shelter, a foster home, a “dress for success” organization, your church’s outreach program, after school teen projects, whatever cause touches your particular heart.

And there’s the KEY: What touches your heart? How can your unused/extra/outworn and gently-loved items serve another person? How can creating some order in your life improve the life of another?

One purpose: Attaching meaning to an unpleasant task.

Two weeks.

One bag.

Do something for yourself. Do something for another person in the process.

Let me know how you made out, and if creating meaning actually did make your de-cluttering project more bearable.

 

Jeanne Fiorini TarotWorks http://www.tarotworks.comJeanne Fiorini created She’s NEAT with an understanding of 2 simple truths:
1. Being organized is not a trait that comes naturally to everyone. 
2. Neat is beautiful.
Visit the She’s NEAT site and LIKE us on Facebook!

Tips For Keeping Your “Neat” Resolution

Fireworks ShowSo…. Did you make a New Year’s resolution to be more organized in 2013?

How’s that going so far?

If you’re having trouble staying on track, here are a few suggestions for how to be successful in that resolution all year long:

1.  Use something you love as a focal point in the room. If it’s your office, maybe you have an antique desk that you treasure; if it’s a living room maybe it’s that one-of-a-kind coffee table or bookcase; maybe your bedroom has a pair of lamps that are to die for.  A space http://shesneat.comthat holds a positive emotional charge is more likely to stay neat, clean, and organized.

2.  If you bring something new into the space, take something else away…either put it into storage or take it to the Goodwill.  This tactic — especially important for closet spaces –keeps stuff from piling up.

3. Recognize your de-cluttering efforts as socially responsible and/or eco-friendly. For instance, isn’t there someone who would benefit from those sweaters you never wear? Wouldn’t someone love to read those books that have sat on your shelf for 2 years? What “good deed” can you do with the money you can make from selling some of the unused stuff treducereuserecyclehat is clogging up your basement or attic?

De-cluttering can make you feel good about yourself and can help someone else feel good in the process.

And Remember: When you clear out your office space, be sure to recycle the paper that has piled up rather than just tossing it into the trash. Reduce/Reuse/Recycle is a key phrase in the neatness game.

De-cluttering can make you feel good about yourself and help someone else in the process.  And the emotional reward from the de-cluttering process goes a long way in maintaining good “neat” habits.

Jeanne Fiorini TarotWorks http://www.tarotworks.comJeanne Fiorini began She’s NEAT with two basic principles: Being Organized Does Not Come Naturally to Everyone and Neat is Beautiful.  

Visit She’s NEAT to see some photos of the work! It’s pretty cool what a little organization can do!

Being Organized: It’s Not That Simple

She's NEAT Personal OrganizationI’ve been much too busy these past few weeks to post a blog. Sleeping late, eating cookies, and watching pro football has been taking up most of my time and energy. But I did complete a few projects as owner/founder of the new business She’s NEAT, and have a few thoughts to share about that.

Over the last 20-something years as a Tarot reader, we worked alongside the metaphysical maxim that whatever is happening in the inner planes is reflected in the outer planes: that what we believe determines what we experience, and that our thoughts and feelings do not exist only in the intangible float-y places within us but manifest themselves in our physical appearance, the health of our bodies, and our overall sense of safety and security.

Because of the nature of the Tarot reading process, most people would agree that Tarot works “from the inside out.” That is to say, Tarot makes its effects known by making conscious certain experiences and realities, by bringing specific information into our awareness, by putting things in plain sight right out there on the table (pun intended).

To use a metaphor from one of my Tarot video tips, reading the Tarot is like using a straw to draw forth unseen molecules of milk from the bottom of a glass.

Kitchen table:, Voilà, milk!

Tarot table: Voilà, truth!

Whatever you do with that truth is, of course, up to you, but information has nonetheless been provided for your consideration.

Additionally, like a straw resting idly on a table, the Tarot does not do its work in a vacuum. To read Tarot for other people requires “the other” to give permission for the reader to visit their private world, to step into their unseen places and wander ‘round a bit. What an honor and responsibility.

Am I surprised to be observing many of the same dynamics while providing Personal Organization Services through She’s NEAT? Does it startle me to recognize the many ways that the new business is a mirror image of the old? I must admit that it does.

In order for She’s NEAT to “work,” a client gives me permission to visit their home, to “come inside” so to speak; to see their stuff; to observe their messy corners and the places in their life where they are real and imperfect.

Again, an honor and a responsibility. AND an opportunity to change more than one’s physical surroundings. Here it is in a nutshell:She's NEAT mirror http://shesneat.com

The Tarot works from the inside out; She’s NEAT works from the outside in.

One of my first clients said it well when she stated that this work “makes room for what really matters in my life.”

De-cluttering forces us to look at what we’ve allowed to accrue around us. Oftentimes, much of what clogs up our life has not been given direct permission to be there. Busy schedules, old attachments, memories either happy or sad, force of habit, and the power of procrastination fuel the fire. Before we know it we’re knee-deep in “stuff” that no longer serves us in any way whatsoever.

The beauty of de-cluttering is that by taking concrete action to clear one’s physical space, we set the wheels in motion for the inner life to respond in like manner. Clients have reported shifts in their mood, self-esteem, and even in relationships within weeks of taking control of their living environments.

This transformation of the psyche through the mere reorganization of physical space is more amazing to me than the fact that Tarot “works!”

But of course the rearranging of outer environs enables a shift to occur within the inner realms, Newton’s Third Law explains it succinctly: “Every action creates and equal and opposite reaction.”

There you have it. When science and metaphysics concur, truth has been told.

So — take an easy step toward personal growth and fulfillment and de-clutter your life.

I can help with that.

 

Jeanne Fiorini TarotWorks http://www.tarotworks.comJeanne Fiorini created She’s NEAT with an understanding of 2 simple truths:She's NEAT logo
1. Being organized is not a trait that comes naturally to everyone. 
2. Neat is beautiful.
Visit the She’s NEAT site and LIKE us on Facebook!