Creative Journaling: Clear Your Head by Clearing a Place to Journal

We’ve talked about the importance of clearing mental clutter to overcome writer’s block, but what about physical clutter? Be honest. How many times have you walked into a room in your house and groaned out loud at the clutter and mess around you? Unless you are one of those lucky few creative folks who is meticulously neat, you probably wish you could have a little more organization, especially in your writing space.

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of positioning objects and buildings in a way that promotes a balance of yin and yang and a positive flow of chi. It dictates that clutter brings low, confusing and draining energy into your home, which is detrimental to your own energy and well-being.

Clearing out physical clutter can seem like an overwhelming and tedious process, but when you live and work in a clear, open space, your mind also becomes free and uncluttered. 

Take these simple steps to apply Feng Shui principles to a space where you can write every day. 

1. Choose a room where you enjoy writing—an office, spare room or bedroom. Start small and tackle one area of the room at a time. Set a timer and spend 30 to 45 minutes only focusing your efforts on a task or two. When the timer goes off, stop. You can repeat for a few cycles, but don’t burn yourself out. Breaking the cleaning up into pieces makes it more manageable.  

2. Create a positive environment for your clutter clearing. Play music that makes you happy, open windows to let in fresh air, enlist help from a loved one.  

3. Ask yourself questions about the possessions you are sorting.

• Do I need this? Do I love this?
• Have I used this in the last year? 
• Am I keeping it for sentimental reasons that make it special to me? Am I keeping it out of guilt or fear? 

4. Be merciless. If you can't think of a reason to keep it in a few seconds, get rid of it! Set aside one box for items to throw away, one to give away and one to keep. When you are done, throw away, give away or put away everything in those boxes.

Take a step back and admire your work. Great job! You have made a huge difference in your writing environment. Celebrate the occasion by taking out your journal, turning to a fresh page and writing about the experience.

• What did you see and feel when you looked at this room before? What do you see and feel now?
• What old baggage, physical or emotional, were you able to throw away while cleaning? What items were the hardest to get rid of? Why?
• How do you plan to keep your writing space fresh, inviting and clean in the future? 

Now that you’ve made more space for You and your creative journaling, why not start going on.

If you want to learn how journaling can help you tackle life's challenges and clear and focus your mind, please download the free eBook, The Journaling Guide to Manage The Stress and Strains of Life.  

Make time for self-exploration and personal growth and find time for reflection with the journaling prompts in our self-paced journaling course, 53 Weekly Writing Retreats.