Creating “things” that we want is awesome, and the ability to set intentions to achieve what we want in the world is really great. But what is also really beautiful, and even more meaningful, in my opinion, is the process you go through to create things. Doing this authentically and easily is a by product of placing awareness on your evolving self, and finding meaning in your life.

I have found that setting intentions is an authentic way to create things because it is a process of getting in touch with our soul, and the divine to attract what is for our highest and best. So the idea is, when we intend to create some thing, we will either attract what we want, or we will become more aware of who we are, and our original intention won’t seem important to us anymore, something more meaningful may have stepped into our awareness instead. This, in my experience is how intentions have worked in my life. So, remember that intentions are super powerful and even if we don’t necessarily “create” the thing that we want, our lesson’s, level of growth and awareness will always be evolving. And that’s where I am coming from when I talk about the whole process of creating life. We find things we never knew, we never knew and we open ourselves up to new possibilities!! And we learn to embrace the uncomfortable things that show up with grace and style. For me, that’s what creating life is about.

T.S. Eliot.

Daniel Gilbert makes a really interesting point in his book Stumbling on Happiness . He notes that the challenge with measuring any kind of “happiness” or satisfaction is that, when asked how they are, most people don’t know the answer. Interesting……. seeing as this is the basis of being authentic, i.e.to get in touch with how we are feeling. I think the resisting factor here is that people are brought up to believe that getting in touch with how they are feeling is somehow self indulgent. Yet it is not self indulgent at all, in fact it is the opposite. In my opinion it facilitates that act of being truly present with yourself and your body, so that you feel more centred, and you are free to be living in the world as a real person, connecting with more people in more of a flow like dance like manner, without the projection and the blocking of energy that comes from disowning your core feelings.

This all takes practice because it is not something we were conditioned to develop. It is not something we learnt would add any value in our lives, but it is the road to feeling free. For more information I definitely recommend checking out Emotional Clearing by John Ruskan. The way he describes the road to authenticity is really beautifully written, and it won’t scare you like some “inner work” resources may (in fact even the phrase “inner work” scares the hell out of me, so forget I mentioned that!) He does have a cd set you can work through, which I haven’t tried, but I would be interested to hear from anyone who HAS tried it. He actually simplifies the idea of authenticity and makes it into a journey which you may even want to go down!

In my experience, we don’t necessarily need to understand what authenticity is in order to become it, that’s very much a left brained approach and refers back to working with the mind. It’s not something that we can “get” from outside of ourselves so……instead, we just start the process of tuning into our feelings, and then it becomes an experience, something existential I guess. And the people and things we attract into our lives as result become what we then understand to be a reflection of our own ”authentic” self. So, authenticity” in my view isn’t a mindset, it’s something that we embody, something that we “know’ and are aware of in our psyche. Much like the creative process, it can be so subjective that trying to understand authenticity may not get you that far, it’s just something that needs to be begun!!

Neil Gaiman

Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison

A lecture given by Elizabeth Gilbert for TED Ideas Worth Spreading

Leonard Cohen

We can view our home environment as a reflection of who we are, our external world mirrors our internal world, and when we start to clear our external world of things that no longer serve us, we can undergo a powerful change internally, we shift energy and create space for new things to come into our lives, things that we have been wanting and intending.

If our home is filled with clutter and unnecessary items, we will most likely feel disorganized, lacking in energy and focus. We literally won’t be able to see past the junk in our homes and, internally, we may struggle to create new perspectives or opportunities and we can feel stuck.

Have you ever tidied your home and felt much lighter, more energetic and positive as a result? Clearing out your surroundings literally clears out the cobwebs of your soul.

If you are doing a really big clear out where you are finding things that go back years or decades, be prepared for strong emotions to come up. Certain items have strong attachments to memories, which come with strong emotions, remember that as you release these emotions you will ultimately feel lighter and you may feel a weight has been lifted off your shoulder.

After you have cleared your space, go for a long walk, take a bath, celebrate and acknowledge ayourself for the clearing you have done and the space you have created. A walk or a bath will also help cleanse you and release the stuck energy that has shown up, and being in nature will ground you.

I challenge you to try the de cluttering process, and observe what happens in your life, make a list of the inspiration that shows up, or things that appear, and e mail me, let me know how it goes. Soon, when you observe the benefits, you will become a de cluttering expert!

We also have greater pece of mind when we not only create more space, but also create a place for everything that comes into our homes, we will find we have time for other activities because we are not draining our energy looking for lost items, or feeling disorganized.

If you are wondering where to start, when deciding whether or not to get rid of clutter, ask yourself these questions:
Are they?

Things that bring you pleasure
Things that enhance your life
Things that you regularly use or need

If they don’t fulfill these needs then bin them or donate them.