A Fresh Start

 

I have always loved the way that line dried laundry smells after being sun soaked and breeze dried. Something about that smell always reminds me of the ritual of cleansing and fresh starts.

Over a year so much can be accumulated.  And while this not only includes material goods, it also can be mental attitudes and behaviors, an accumulation of negative emotions or memories from events throughout the previous year and how people behave, it can also be about the glut of "shoulds," "have tos" and expectations we place upon ourselves or allow others to place upon us. 

The New Year is a good time to shed the old, unnecessary, bulky, no longer useful and downright harmful or toxic "stuff" from our lives--material goods, habits and thoughts, and even people. We are not meant to walk the Good Red Road with every single person we come into contact with or even carry friendships for the entirety of a lifetime.  Some people are meant to come into our life for short spans of time. Usually these people have something to teach us about ourselves--whether that is a reminder to listen to our instincts when it comes to someones behavior not aligning, some way of reminding us to ask the questions about what we want and choose to have in our lives, or whether it is showing us a way we do not want to embrace or be a part of anymore. Letting go can be easy and does not have to be a blood letting. It does not have to destroy lives or harm others. It can be as simple as walking away and choosing no further response. Some people don't deserve another moment of attention or energy. It is best to turn away from those people and focus attention on what you do want in friendships.

I love the idea of purging my home of stuff I don't need and I usually do this several times a year.  I recently got rid of a bunch of clothes from my closet that I never really wear. It made my closet feel cleaner. I am able to focus on the clothes I do actually love to wear. Sometimes it means going through my books and releasing those that I have had for years with the intention of reading yet have never cracked open. The chances that I'm going to seem slim and there is always someone else who may want to read those books. If at some later time I feel like I have to read a book I've let go of...I can always buy it again!!

Sometimes this Fresh Start means reassessing where we thought we were headed only to discover that an alternate route has been placed in our way or that the path we were on is blocked.  Rather than putting enormous amounts of energy into removing the obstacles, it can be a wise choice to determine if this is a 'god wink' telling us that there is something else, something more, for us to do and a different way for that to occur.

I recently thought that I was about done with being a full time artist, only to have several people request custom work from me, to be sought after for some teaching opportunities and to have a renewed interest in several of the mediums I work in.  That creative process just was dormant and needed rejuvenation.

I recently thought that I was on a particular path, only to discover that what I thought the path was about and the way I thought people were was completely false--showing me what I do not want to be and how I do not want to treat people. The good news is that it reaffirmed my most fundamental beliefs and helped me come to the conclusion that those people were not in alignment with the beliefs they say they teach and preach. If there cannot even be conversation because the lines are cut off, someone has predetermined the answers or will not hear a concern or have a diametrically opposed belief, then it is time to leave that hypocritical arena completely. Sometimes relationships just cannot be "healed" because the paths fork into different directions with an ever widening gap of differences. Yes, Forgive, forgive, forgive. A hundred times forgiveness--every day forgiveness and letting go.  No, don't stay where it is mental, emotional or physical abuse. Don't let anyone use you as their punching bag, to shore themselves up, or to make themselves feel justified in their judgmental words or actions and their own insecurities. When you backtrack into the past, your energy gets sucked into re-creating old patterns or situations. You don’t need to go back and dissect your past at all, ever!!!  Unless you want to go back where you were instead into new creations. In fact, it is counter productive to slog through the past. Tearing open healed wounds is not smart and it certainly is not healing.

When something becomes heavy, a burden, or one where I wake up and say, "UGH. I don't want to do XYZ or go to XYZ" that is not just a god-wink but a god-thump to say, uh uh, that is not for you. All we choose to do can be done with joy. Even chores. I often truly enjoy the process of cleaning house, doing the dishes, and taking care of the yard. It makes me happy to do them, even though they are "chores." 

If someone is using you, is putting you down, manipulating you, expecting you to do something because they want you to, even if it does not fit with your beliefs, can't hear honest criticism or concerns or are allowing manipulative and jealous gossips to whisper in their ears, those people are not your tribe.  Do not expend more energy around people who suck the life out of you, who are constantly needy, who are never healed, who are jealous, angry (to the point of enraged at life, everyone and everything and spew it everywhere) or who feel like you have to fit into their program even if that isn't what your soul tells you is best for you. 

A sure sign of someone playing you is their constant and excessive need to have you put your attention on them and their problems. Someone who texts you every day many times a day with the same old whining, someone who plays both sides and then throws others under the bus, someone who plays the victim incessantly in scenario after scenario in their life--that is the master manipulator.They can self-destruct perfectly fine without your having to be involved in their world. That is their path. Forgiving self, forgiving them and moving on is the best possible way to achieve a fresh start.  Immaculate self care is also called for in the process of Fresh Starts.

Fresh Starts are an adventure of discovery. Reassessment can be a fun and interesting process. I happen to be someone who likes brain storming, mind mapping and making lists. I am about to embark on several endeavors to help me more closely define my life plan so that what I choose is more truly in alignment with my beliefs, my talents and skills, and which ultimately brings more joy to myself and others. Reassessment can show you new ways to do things. It can reveal new resources to help you accomplish more that you thought you were going to through the old way. It gives you back your sense of self and purpose.

I love fresh air dried laundry and the New Year is the perfect time for a Fresh Start.  I begin, as always with the questions:  What do I want? What do I choose?  Then I go from there to bring that into fruition. What areas of your life need a Fresh Start?  Today is a new day and a fresh start. You are here, now. Focus on what you are creating now.

(c) 2021, SZing, Spiritual Creator. All Rights Reserved. Photographs courtesy of Pixabay.