Preparing Your Space

Posted on March 18, 2024
After preparing my space. The desk that I do a lot of work on is tidy and neat.

While you’ve already prepared some space by Closing Doors, there’s still more to do. Preparing your space. The way that helps me to think about this is to envision coming back from the market. And not having any space to place the new groceries. 

We’re in this time of Beginnings, or Ostara to the Celts. You’ve hopefully taken time to consider all your options and make a good decision. If not, this is the right time for it. Before you prepare your space. Because without knowing what you want you won’t know what to prepare. 

Spring is, of course, a great time to clean. We see all the dust that has settled when the sunbeams finally throw light on them. We also have more energy as the days are getting longer. And we want to be active and productive.   

In today’s blog I’ll lay out the history of spring cleaning, the importance of preparing your space, and why it doesn’t stop with your physical environment. Preparing your mind is equally important. 

The History of Spring Cleaning 

Spring cleaning, really, is just a way of preparing your space.

Some researchers believe that Spring Cleaning first started in Persia as far back as 3000 BC! The ancient Iranian Festival of Nowruz is still celebrated today – and in style, too, as the festivities last 13 days. Nowruz literally means “shaking the house” which I think gives proof to the energy available at the time. The festival falls onto the first day of spring, which is also the Persian New Year.

Of course, in Europe we also know our fair share of cleaning in spring time (and as I’ve done a little digging around it – so does the whole world). Where I in the beginning of this blog spoke of the sunbeams shining on the dust, in the 18- and 19-hundreds those sunbeams would have fallen on soot streaked services… Not something I need to experience (or smell for that matter). 

Cleansing, whether for spring or otherwise, is often a ritual that gives us stability and discipline. It also makes us value the space more and look after it (and us) better. If all this reading makes you want to jump up and get cleaning, I suggest you take a look at the brilliant check-list by tidy-queen Marie Kondo

The Importance of Preparing Your Space 

A good clean sets the stage for transformation to happen. But you cannot clean well if you haven’t tidied up first. 

Wait, what? 

Yes, you read that right: cleaning and tidying isn’t the same thing. I learned that when I hired a cleaning service for the first time (and I was much perplexed, I don’t mind sharing). 

I’m with Marie Kondo on this: tidy first, then clean. That way you’ve done the hard bit already: knowing what goes where, keeping only what you need and enjoy, and getting rid of that which doesn’t. 

It’s important to keep only what is important to you: either because it is practical and necessary or because it brings you joy. 

This reminds me of my hike last year (when I walked from the South Cotswolds to Inverness, Scotland). That was a big tidy! I could only carry so much (and still packed far too much). Lesson learned. 

Since then I look at my possessions differently: would I put it in my rucksack if I were to tour again? If not, it really is just collecting dust. 

Preparing Your Space: The Physical Environment 

Let’s get back to the decision you made a couple weeks ago about your focus for this year. The option that you want to plant and grow (next week’s blog is all about that). If you’re into gardening, you know that, at this time of year, it’s important to prepare the beds and soil. There’s not much point planting something in sand or between weeds. 

Take a look at your home, giving special attention to any room that features in your chosen option. For example, if you want to focus on your business, then you would do well to take a look around  the office space. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a separate room or integrated into another space. 

What is in this space that needs to be moved? What could be distracting? That could even be pictures – especially if they remind you of one of the options you let go… 

Create your space in the way that makes you want to spend time there. So that it fills you with excitement to get started on making your dreams come true.

Fun exercise: take a picture of the room before you prepare the space and after. Share it in the group

Preparing Your Space: The Mental Environment 

While the physical environment will set you up for success; there is some mental preparation to do, too. 

This is important if your chosen idea is quite big. While you can see it become successful, you don’t know how this will happen just yet. It’s also essential when you struggle with focusing on one thing at a time and are often distracted. 

Prepare your mental environment by giving yourself time throughout the day to daydream and to focus.

Daydreaming 

Daydreaming is a great way to raise your vibrations. This in turn raises your magnetism, making you much more attractive to receive what you want. Set some time, each day, to indulge in furnishing your dream in your mind’s eye. I’d say put a timer on and do this for 10-15 minutes. 

Don’t overdo the daydreaming though! Because you might fall in the trap of setting expectations that events will play out a certain way. If you do that, you might not recognize opportunities that would get you to where you want to be faster, because they’re not arriving in the light blue convertible… 

Focus

The other time to set is for focussed work. I’m a big fan of setting another timer as it helps me stay on the task (and not check Facebook ‘real quick’). I set it up for 45 minutes. When this time is up I move around a bit, stretch out, get some water, and then return to the task at hand after five minutes to do another 45-minute stint. Once I completed two sets I take a bit of a longer break (I might even venture onto Facebook). 

Of course, there are other ways to prepare your mental environment. What it comes down to, though, is being disciplined with yourself to do what you want to do in order to make your dreams come true. 

That last bit is key: “do what you want to do IN ORDER to make your dreams come true”. 

Your Space is Ready 

There you have it. Now you know what you have to do to be successful for preparing your space. The tidying, the cleaning, and the mental preparation. 

Take this week to prepare your space(s), your environment (don’t forget your office), and your mind. This week’s Soul Journey gives you even more prompts on how to prepare your space to make this year (and this dream) your best. There’s even a bonus track this week: a Soul Dream that helps you with your daydreaming! This is free to you if you have opted for the year-long subscription. You can purchase it as a standalone as well. 

Looking forward to seeing your pics! I’m going to start. The feature photo is the “after”, but in the group you’ll find the “before”, too!


In this collection of Beginnings you might also find these blog posts of interest: