The Week of Inward Looking: Day 3 – Organization
DECEMBER 28 – QUESTION #3
From Andrew Mellen
Topic: Organization
Question: When I look back over 2011 and think about how time, choices and objects have been organized, do I see harmony and ease? Did I seek out the natural place for things to land and rest? Where did I struggle to force things into literal or figurative containers? Do I recognize the order in the universe and see my life reflected in that order?
Organization is about recognizing what ‘enough’ looks like and feels like; about holding things loosely while learning deep appreciation for the comfort, convenience, beauty and functionality that objects offer. When I clutch, grab, or hold something too closely or tightly, instead of creating a feeling of safety and security, what grows is a sense of anxiety and fear—that the object will break, be lost or assert its impermanence in some other way.
Possession often hastens the outcome I hoped to prevent.
The things I intended/expected to increase the quality of my life begin distracting me from that quality.
What can I do in 2012 to move through time and space more harmoniously, recognizing that everything I need is within easy reach? How best can I release those things that no longer serve me (on any plane) to find new homes more suited to their purpose? How might I increase joy in equal or greater measure to my worldly accumulation?
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Background: Author Susan Piver and I are hosting "The Week of Inward Looking" during this week between Christmas and the New Year. It occured to us that this inbetween week is a time for examination, a time to build a bridge to a peaceful, joyful, creative, and wildly successful 2012–whatever success means to you.
So we invited five extraordinary thinkers to join us in creating a 7-day journey, starting today.
You are welcome to join our Facebook group to connect with others participating in The Week of Inward Looking, or not.
You are welcome to post your answers on that Facebook page, or not.
You are welcome to journal in your private journal, on your blog, anywhere you'd like–the questions are simply put into the universe for you to consider as we move in this week toward 2012. Share as you would like.
Each day will have a different questioner, and a different theme:
Dec 26: Patti Digh – On Bendiness
Dec 27: Ken Robert – On Shadows
Dec 28: Andrew Mellen – On Becoming Organized
Dec 29: Jennifer Louden – On Serving
Dec 30: Jonathan Fields – On Creativity
Dec 31: Susan Piver – On Spirituality
Jan 1: Seth Godin – On Being an Artist
I hope you'll join us in this exploration.
[image from NYTimes]
