Cleaner Closet = Cleaner Soul

In the Tree House: Cleaner Closet = Cleaner Soul

By: Samantha S. Daviss

This last week was crazy busy for me. Our entire office moved into our beautiful brand new office building. We are all so excited for the fresh smell of a new coat of paint, bigger office space, newer amenities; and just an all around new clean work environment.

I don’t know about you, but every spring I try to do a nice general “spring cleaning”. My rule is if I haven’t worn it, looked at it, or used it in the past year…then it’s time to say “adios amigo”.  My girlfriend and I always have a huge annual garage sale in March or April every year (sometimes if we have collected enough stuff, we will have one semi-annually as well). It just feels so good sometimes to cleanse and get of clothes that are worn out, you are tired of seeing or wearing, or just don’t fit right any more.

But I digress, during this move to our new office I took it as a cleansing and organizing opportunity. I wiped every single picture frame down with a Clorox wipe, and I filed every loose piece of paper either in the appropriate file folder or hole punched it and slapped it in its coordinating notebook. It took me three full days of working through lunch to finally reach and obtain this accomplishment, but after the exhaustion wore off I felt fantastic both inside and out.

In addition to my cleaning and organizing spree, I got a little creative with my color palette selection in my office. The colors are based on a beautiful Tuscan sunflower painting that I found, so my walls are a wonderfully cheery and bright Tuscan turquoise and rich mustard-yellow ceiling as an accent. I know it may sound grotesque in your mind, but every time I walk in my new office, I just smile. It makes me feel happy, cheery and bright.

I figure if I have to be stuck in a room for eight or so hours a day, behind my computer, filling out paperwork and away from my kids, so I might as well create a happy environment in which to fulfill all my tasks. But what makes me even happier about my new office is that everything has its place. It is all organized, labeled, and where it belongs to make my life just a little bit tidier.

I know it may sound completely odd, but by insides, my soul, just feels cleaner and more alive knowing that I have personally organized, placed and cleaned every single item in my office just as they should be to make my work environment a well oiled machine.

In addition to organizing and cleaning all of my items as they were put away in my new office, I purged old items that I knew I would never have a use for in the future. I threw out at least three huge boxes of unwanted papers, old files, and just odd office paraphernalia that I knew I didn’t need.

Now there were a few files that I rummaged through that needed to be organized a little better than what they had been, but they were files from “a former life” I once knew, but is just a mere blip on my radar of life now; nonetheless they must be filed and stored for possible future use.

It’s funny what time will do; how it will completely change the perspective on an event that was the axis or the bane of your existence day in and day out, and now they are just old pieces of paper collecting dust on a shelf in your new office.

So whether or not you literally need to cleanse your life, or figuratively, to help you move past something in your life…today is the day. Set your goals, prioritize your list of what needs to be done now and what can maybe be put on the back burner; but remember, just because it’s on the back burner doesn’t mean it is to be ignored.

Start your cleanse today, pick a small area of your home or office and just start sifting through it all. You will be amazed at what you find, what you don’t need, and how much cleaner your soul feels when you are finished.