This is the second post on Spring Vitality series. If you missed the previous post here it is: Make Fewer Decisions For A More Streamlined Life.
I was reading Marie Kondo’s, “The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up” whilst waiting for my soup at a cafe and it got me thinking: Do we ever tidy up or de-clutter dreams?
As I continued to the think about this idea, I felt clouds of dreams, some realized and some completely forgotten begin to flood my consciousness. Some of these dreams were long dead, whilst others fluttered around chirping like birds in a Disney animation.
Could a spring cleaning refresh these desire filled-dreams, bringing them to surface where they could be sorted between relevant and unnecessary? Just like clothes, shoes and knick knacks, dreams can clutter our lives without our realizing it; taking up precious space in our minds and bodies.
Having dreams that are floating around without purpose can be analogous to having apps open on an iPhone that are not being used which continue to run and use the battery power. And just as I do with my iPhone – I close the apps I am not using to conserve battery power for the apps I want to use – I want to do the same with old dreams and goals.
These dreams may be written down in journals or as personal statements. Or, they may be living on vision boards or as bucket lists or they may be just floating around in the backwaters of our minds.
It matters not where we have housed them because what we want to bring to these dreams is the clarity of our desire to spring clean and spruce them up so that they are current to our needs and add vitality to our lives.
4 Steps to Spring cleaning old dreams
- Take out old vision boards, personal statements, journals, and bucket lists and go through them. See which ones still resonate with you and make you feel vibrant and which ones zap your energy. Make 2 piles.
- Go through the pile that makes you feel vibrant and fine tooth comb it to see if those dreams truly jazz you up and feel relevant to your growth. Be ruthless with your editing here because we do get attached to dreams – dig deep and get super clear on what you want in your life now.
- Take the pile of vision boards, personal statements, journals etc that you no longer want and chuck them in the garbage or have a little bonfire. Send them on their way with love and appreciation.
- The pile that you have decided to keep, take a look at it and see if it expresses your desires in the most joyous, true way that represents you. If it does, read and connect to these dreams. See how they make you feel and what action steps you can take to make them real. Write down those action steps and follow through.*
There may be some dreams that require you to rethink what you want and why you want those things. For example, if you have been pursuing a certain career or job title and you realize it is making you unhappy, it may behoove you to inquire a little deeper as to why you chose this career path in the first place and whether it still meets your original purpose. It may be time to let go of this dream or, refocus your efforts to make it happen.
If you feel sadness or grief rising at the thought of releasing these dreams (due to associating it to failure for not accomplishing the dreams*). Give yourself some time to reflect on these feelings and then choose to let the feelings go. Cleaning, organizing, editing your life and making decisions about where you are going and who you want to be can be emotionally taxing, so be gentle with yourself.
Once you have completed this exercise step back and see how you feel. Do you sense more space? Clarity? Freedom? Use this new energy and make your dreams become a vibrant, delicious reality.
Thanks so much for reading my posts and following me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I, so appreciate you. Tell me a little about yourself and which dreams you are pursuing in the comments below.
* If you need help gaining clarity or need support in making your dreams come true. I am here to help you reach that higher ground.
Beautiful Navjit,
Each January I gather wth my girls ~daughter and grand-girls, and we create vision boards. It’s fun. By January of each year we have accumulated quite a pile of magazines from the prior year’s subscriptions, and surround ourselves with these to cut and tear from. Paints and glue and clippings fly as we each create our individual masterpieces….
Having this annual ritual/tradition, means I have compiled quite a few vision boards. This year, it’s a vision book. I purchased a blank notebook, where I write and paste and doodle and question and sound off and in essence, practice a sort of notebook meditation. It’s a new twist on the board that hangs over my desk, and the countless others that line the closet shelf…. I look through the book often, and add new images, and write a line or quote. It’s a more organic form of the vision board.
For me, the best place in this post is where you address the sadness and grief and disappointment of having not achieved some of the dreams of the vision. Your advice to take that moment to explore the feelings is a quietly powerful suggestion. It’s one I will be taking later today as I decide what the lessons are in the visions that have yet manifest in this realm.
This is a beautiful post, Navjit, as always.
Much love and gratitude,
Jan
Hello Jan,
Thank you for sharing your story. Your annual ritual sounds amazing and I am sure your daughters and granddaughters cherish it as much as you do. I am sure this will be part of your legacy to them and future generations.
Did you get a chance to explore your feelings about dreams unrealized? I would love to hear what you came up for you.
Thank you for being on this journey Jan.
Big hugs and love.
Navjit
JanDeelstra
Hello Jan,
Thank you for sharing your story. Your annual ritual sounds amazing and I am sure your daughters and granddaughters cherish it as much as you do. I am sure this will be part of your legacy to them and future generations.
Did you get a chance to explore your feelings about dreams unrealized? I would love to hear what you came up for you.
Thank you for being on this journey Jan.
Big hugs and love.
Navjit