Grief Decluttering: Turning our emotional land minds into intentional honoring

Hello Beautiful Person!

It’s spring!  It’s the time to declutter and simplify your life.  A few weeks ago, I shared our first decluttering tip on decluttering our hearts first. Until we clear away our emotional clutter, we are just simply unable to part with the physical objects around us. Once that heart clutter is cleared, it’s time to move onto our physical objects. Once we finally do start decluttering, what do you think will derail our progress the fastest? It’s what I love to call:

The Emotional Land Mind

What is an emotional land mind? It is that note, that letter, that very personal ANYTHING that we find lying around in a drawer or a closet that catches us by surprise and takes us down in our hallway where we find ourselves crumbled and crying in a ball of tears, all the while vowing never to return to that closet that did this to us. Over time, we find ourselves avoiding those very closets entirely because of what is looming on the other side. We think our broken hearts can’t take it.  We think we won’t be able to open that wound again with another uncharted emotional land mind.  But what if there was something we could do to not only avoid those land minds but also bring them to a place of safety faster?  This week, we’re going to empower ourselves in two different ways to create a path of healing and strength so we can put those land minds right where they belong.

We are going to turn our emotional land minds into intentional honoring.

How do we do this? We begin to fill a box with those aforementioned land mind objects.  Upon discovery, you can choose to read it or put it in immediately and save it for another time.  You will begin to find that the land minds that you feared so much become an opportunity for intentional honoring. You can make the choice to open that closet door and pull out that beautiful box of reminders and use that time to honor your loved one, instead of fearing what you might find scattered behind closed doors. It’s an empowering and beautiful keepsake of all of your loved one’s love notes.

But what do we do if we think we don’t have enough power in us to even open that closet door?

We bring in reinforcements.

A friend, a loved one or even a professional organizer. Bring in someone who will listen to your cards or letters as you find them. Bring in someone who can wipe your tears, hold your hand and then help you get that land mind secured in your intentional honoring box. That friend will also help you keep going and not let you stop there so you can make it through that whole closet.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be very nice to get your “hello” from your angel as you come across sentimental items in your home. I assure you, this will not go away if you create this box. Your loved one will find other ways to say “hello” so you can know they are around you.  Your intentional honoring box helps YOU feel empowered and strong and less surprised and pained by finding that beautiful birthday card just lying in a drawer. With your brand new box, you will not only enjoy that card but it will become a true honoring of your loved one during a carved out moment in your day.  You can bring your whole heart to this box prepared and ready to cry, reminisce, remember and heal.

I can’t wait to hear how your intentional honoring boxes work for you this week. What did you find? What did you put inside? Take a picture and post it below.

Love and Blessings,
Erin