"Clutter Blocks Success"

On mornings when I steal a few minutes to read my e-mail before leaving for work, I usually have to pick and choose just a couple that sound especially enlightening or intriguing. Sometimes I hit the jackpot, and sometimes I don't. But today I opened a little pearl. It is both luminous and simple in its message, really, and the timing couldn't be more ideal for me.

Read more about the author, Christine Kane, below. And check out her blog and her music if you have the time.

The Year I Discovered How Clutter Blocks Success

I looked at my phone in horror.

"You want me to what?" I said into it.

"It's time, Christine. You've been talking about that basement for weeks now. It's time to deal with it."

I had been working with my coach for months at this point. And even though I had reached certain levels of success in my career, I kept getting stuck in the same old ruts. I was about to record my fourth CD, and I was ready to move to a higher level.

Thom was doing what good coaches do: listening carefully, seeing clearly - and of course, pushing me to take conscious action.

So, he encouraged me to start small and completely clear out the junk in my basement. Thirty minutes a day.

One section at a time. Building momentum as I went.

Each week, during our call, I'd report back on my progress. Each week, I had a new reason why I simply could not let go of some clutter-y item.

"But I spent so much on it!" "I might need it someday!" "I could gain weight and need this again." "I paid such a good price for it!"

To my credit, I did pretty well at letting go once Thom talked me through these old mindsets.

Then came the week I had to face one particularly significant section of the basement.

It was where I stored various pieces of furniture I had gotten at the Salvation Army and at local flea markets when I first began my songwriting career. A bookcase, a kitchen table, a dresser, and a few shelves. I no longer liked or used this furniture because my tastes totally changed. I had begun to cherish beauty and opulence in my surroundings. I wanted to fill my home only with items that I loved."

So, Christine," Thom asked. "Why don't you want to let these things go?"

I was embarrassed. But I told him the truth. "Well, here's the thing. If my music career doesn't work out, I might need them one day. If I fail, and I don't have any money, I might wish I had kept these things."

Long pause. "So, you'll be on the street - but at least you'll have that bookcase?"

I laughed.

Thom sighed. And what he said next has been a core lesson of creating my success and happiness.

He said that everything in our lives has energy. Everything has our thoughts and emotions embedded into it. Old furniture is no exception. In essence, what I was saying to the universe and to my subconscious, creative self was this:

I believe so deeply in my own failure that I'm holding onto physical things that represent that possibility. Every time I walk by these items in my basement, I will be reminded of my inevitable failure. Every moment I'm in my house, my subconscious will know that in the very foundation of my life (my basement), there are items that prove I don't believe in my own success.

That week, I called Goodwill, and scheduled an appointment to have the old furniture taken away.

I'd love to report that I smiled and waved as the old clunky furniture was carried away. But the truth is I was terrified. I was letting go of my Plan B. I was saying to the Universe:

"I thoroughly believe in my own success."

I had never done that before in such a concrete way!

As I wrote earlier, I began recording my fourth CD "Rain & Mud & Wild & Green" as I was clearing out the basement. That CD went on to sell five times more than any of my other CD's. It received rave reviews. Border's Books featured it on a listening post that year, and named it the top CD of the year in my category.

Now, even though I know this success wasn't ONLY about letting go of my old flea market furniture, I have become a firm believer that we each need to pay attention to the energy of the stuff that surrounds us. We need to pay attention to what we are telling our subconscious minds when we hold on.

Now you.

What are you holding onto? What thoughts and beliefs are you putting out into the Universe by clinging to it? Are you telling yourself you don't believe in the inevitability of your own success and prosperity? Or that you don't believe you can expand and create better things in your life?

Pick one thing - just one small thing - and let it go. Today!

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to LiveCreative at http://www.christinekane.com/.

More Simple Things

It's been a couple of weeks now since Christina of Soul Aperture invited us to slow down and take note of the simple things that bring us joy. For some reason, summertime just seems to be all about simple things. Or maybe it's because summertime is steeped in so many traditions, and they remind us of simpler times. In any case, I'm continuing to be a big fan of simple things.

ironing (with a linen spray with just the slightest scent of lavender)

a plain white linen blouse

vanilla ice cream

sprinklers

whisper pink toenail polish


singing

"creating" with magazine cut outs, paper, and glue


piggy banks

a wave from a neighbor

ice cold watermelon

cartoons and cereal on Saturday mornings (no age limit!)

car trips with "slug bug" and travel games and rushing to put your shoes back on when stopping for a potty break

I hope you take the time to enjoy a few simple things today.

Peace,

5-7-5

A sprinkling of summer haiku . . .

sound of a mower

and it's eight o'clock at night

must be summertime

hear the cicadas

as they all sing the same song

but you can't see them

turf wars with the weeds

a battle i'll never win

humbly i concede

little feathered friends

finding damp spots in the shade

trying to stay cool

Decluttering and Creativity

I have been cleaning, decluttering, purging -- whatever you would like to call it. I don't know if it's the hot (and I do mean hot!) weather, but I feel almost "stifled by stuff" at home lately. Things are not really out of place (except for the pantry and my closet) but our house is 13 years old and there is a list of things that are starting to look old and worn. It's time to start addressing that list, and it seems logical (to me anyway) that a good place to start is just with a good thorough cleaning - top to bottom, room to room, wall to wall - and maybe some fresh paint.

During my "rest breaks" (they are a requirement after all, what with the heat and everything), I've torn pages out of magazines and grouped them by themes. As time has permitted, I've quickly done some mini collages of some of my favorite colors and themes.

Such great fun. Hope to do more in the next couple of days.

Observations on a Weekend

Little dirty feet always seem to be wet, thereby leaving little dirty footprints/smudges on every inch of tile floor.

Coffee really does taste the best on Sunday mornings when it can be drunk slowly (with no three-year-olds around!).

It is possible to do four things at once: boil potatoes for salad (and beets for lunch), run a load of laundry, water the backyard, and vacuum.

If you feed them, they will come. (In this case, the birds; but I’m sure it applies to other areas as well.) ;)

Tuna salad is good for breakfast.

Three-year-olds are easy to please when it comes to buying birthday presents. (I asked my granddaughter what she wanted for her birthday next Saturday. She said, “avocado.” I asked her how many and she said, “two.” Then I asked her how old she was going to be and she said, “July.” )

When my daughter was young, she jabbered ALL THE TIME!! (She even got a sweatshirt for Christmas one year that said, “Help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up.”) Granddaughter is turning out to be exactly like her mother. ;)

The little 3 ounce single serve cups of ice cream that you can buy by the dozen from the supermarket are really, really good!

Naps are wonderful.

Trying to get motivated and accomplish anything after a nap of more than an hour is next to impossible.

Baby Steps in . . .

watercolor journaling

I have, for many years, admired travel sketchbooks and journals, especially those done in watercolors.

I am a big fan of watercolors in general. I don't know if it's their softness, or the way they seem to be especially forgiving, as it really seems to me that many appear to be colored "outside the lines." I just like them.

For me, part of the appeal of sketchbooks and travel journals is that they are done quickly and in the moment. I fully admit that patience is not one of my strongpoints. So the idea of completing a sketch or painting in a journal in a matter of minutes or an hour, as opposed to days or weeks, really thrills me.

My grandmother painted. She dabbled in acrylics and I have one of her paintings hanging in my spare bedroom. It's just a vase of flowers, and it's not perfect, but that's not why she painted. She painted because she was a creative type. She gardened, she crocheted, she sewed, she loved to write letters, she loved to cook and have luncheons for her lady friends. I have realized just in the last couple of years how much I am like her. And I miss her.

My favorite of her paintings, though, are a couple of miniature watercolor landscapes that she did for me. She used just the little dime store eight-color paint palette and the paintbrush that came with it. And her "canvas" was the tiny piece of cardboard that used to be in the bottom of the purse-sized packets of tissues. It's about 2 or 3 inches wide by about 4 inches long. I was probably still in grade school when she painted them, and I was in awe. She was an artist!

I have "dabbled" myself several times in the last few years. Other than a few very small Chinese brush paintings that I am fairly pleased with, I never felt that I got the hang of it. I never liked the finished product. I've tried watercolor pencils, a small watercolor palette, and even a few tubes of watercolor paints. I recently signed up for a class next month - just three hours one morning at a botanical garden. But I decided I wanted to practice a little bit ahead of time. I found some instructional videos on the Internet and watched them, and decided to give it another go.

The first sketch I did just in watercolor pencils a couple of months ago. I had not added any water until today. I don't love it, but it's a little better after I played with it today.

The next two I did tonight. I used watercolor pencils again and just looked at some pictures from a magazine and copied thrm.

I rather like the lavender. And the fruit is kind of growing on me. I definitely can't wait to try some more! On to the paint palette next.

Wreck This Journal

An Ode to a Journal







I wrecked this journal once,
I wrecked this journal twice.
It started getting easier
to "not be nice."

I wrecked this journal three times,
and then I wrecked it four.
And my inner "wrecker"
hollered, "I want more!"

I've wrecked it with a pen,
I've wrecked it with some glue.
I've wrecked it with some coffee,
and with some pudding too.

I've yet to take it for a walk,
or with me in the shower.
In fact, the mere thought of it
makes me kind of cower.

A few more weeks of wrecking.
And then what? It's the end?
I'll be sad cause it's become
somewhat of a friend.


Corny, yes. But creativity is what it is!
Be sure to go to Wreck This Journal to witness the creative genius of Wreckers everywhere!