I read a quote by Oprah Winfrey the other day that has left me pondering the kind of gratitude that I speak into my days:
“Being grateful all the time isn’t easy. But it’s when you least feel thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life – this I know for sure.”
When you look at social media postings throughout the year, you typically will see high posts in these months:
- January (New Year’s goals and resolutions)
- February (treats and love day gatherings)
- March (spring cleaning tips and spring break trips)
- April (Easter/spring break)
- May (end of school/gearing up for summer)
- June-July (summer vacay and favorite summer activities)
- August – September (back to school)
- October (Halloween/pumpkins/fall)
- November (gratitude month and Thanksgiving)
- December (Christmas gatherings and traditions)
There seems to be a seasonal conversation where our minds grasp the perspective of whatever culture is reminding us of as we participate within those visuals. Something that I am digging deeper into is that I want the attitude of gratitude to be a year-round posture that has acknowledgment in the everyday places of my life.
I know that having a posture of gratitude takes intentionality to learn how to see things that often go unnoticed and give space to voice perspective into those places.
I think that a strengthening place to begin that teaching ground is within the walls of your home.
“When home feels out of control, no matter what the reason, unsettledness and anxiety can seep in, and then the chaos becomes internal as well as external.” – Myquillyn Smith
In reading the gratitude quote and the home chaos quote, I thought about how I want to focus this spring cleaning season on decluttering our home while including the gratitude perspective.
Choose Your Pace
-
- Some spring cleaning lists include taking one room a week to declutter, to clean, to reset/simplify in ways that give you peace in your space whereas others may go at a multiple-room-a-week pace- Set what works for you.
- While you are decluttering in those rooms, voice out loud your places of gratitude within that particular space: For example, if you are in your kitchen cleaning out those places, I’m thankful for these utensils in my drawer that my family and guests use to nourish their bodies while we share in authentic conversation at the table together. You can get specific over things that are used within your home that are connected with your family and people who share those spaces with you.
Set the Tone
-
- Create a Spotify playlist to listen to that ushers your spirit into a place of relaxation and peace as you clean.
- Use some acoustic songs as a prayer of praise. For example, as you are cleaning your bedrooms and putting on clean sheets, speak gratitude within those rooms, specifically over the gifts you see in your children/spouse/loved ones. Give voice to the areas that you see are their strengths. You can even write some of them out on Post-it notes to leave on their mirror/bed to encourage them and affirm them.
Cultivate Peace
-
- I love the decluttering tip of thinking about what gives you joy and if it doesn’t, it goes in the giveaway pile. I love the idea of thinking about your different rooms and giving voice to how you want to use those spaces. This will cultivate intentionality to seek peace internally and externally as you invest in your home from a place of rest and of warmth.
Happy spring cleaning and gratitude month!
