(Above: I reuse everything and adore using elements of nature to give me peace at home. The runner is nothing more than bamboo plant stakes cut down and hot glued together. The vase--came with a bouquet of flowers. The rocks in the vase and limbs--from the yard.)
It dawned on me one morning when I went to work (mind you, my going to work involves stepping into my guest bedroom in my home), when I sat down and sighed. Another day of the same old, same old, typing up medical reports. Blah Blah Blah. Then, I realized as I began my ritual of sipping coffee while doing updates and emails, that the same thought pattern ran through my head every morning. For some bizarre reason, I recalled a camping trip from long ago, then go on to think about someone I haven’t talked to for years, then wondered about when to do the laundry. I went through this every morning like Pavlov's dogs salivating. I sat at my desk, the same series of thoughts entered...
Not only was my routine the same, my thought patterns were too!
The mind literally gets trained to do the same things in the same manner and that includes intrusive thoughts, as well. We got into a kind of autopilot to multitask or to do the same boring routine every day. I know this from working with phobic’s and I understand how they can get set in their OCD pattern of making associations where none should exist. Once that link is made, the mind replays it on autopilot. It becomes the responsibility of the owner of the repetitive brain to stop and question why it’s necessary to repeat the pattern and if it has any validity in the first place. Then, to eliminate cues that start that pattern again and again.
The same can be said for your home in relation to paranormal activity. Once a routine is established, it can go on and on and on unchecked. The habits of the mind and where it compartmentalizes thoughts is very similar to a home and how the rooms contain and hold energy and memories.
A change of routine is usually warranted.
To stop the patterned thoughts when going to work, I had to change the routine. Instead of doing emails while I began my work, I saved them for the end of my shift. Instead of having coffee at my desk, I made myself sit down and take a break to enjoy the coffee. I actually tasted it too which I wouldn’t be able to do while busy typing. I arranged my work area so that there is so much visual stimulation that I can’t get caught staring at the same spot on the wall and thinking the same thoughts. I made a giant collage on a huge canvas by printing out photos from my lifetime of growing up and becoming a mom and things I’ve accomplished. I tore the pictures edges into strange shapes and decoupaged them onto the canvas and coated it in an ochre stain to make it look aged. The result is many dozens of photos that remind of me of new thoughts and distract my mind from the old patterned thoughts. This is healthy too because it's that very novelty of thoughts that gives you new ideas for your day and how to approach it. If you continue the same pattern, you create the same day. Growth and novelty go hand-in-hand. There’s also some art work hanging up that I love of cemeteries and the Green Man. Some magazine covers ripped out and hung up to inspire me with my workout routine. Quirky photos of family members and post-it love notes. In general, my ability to stay awake and stimulated during work and distracted from old thought patterns has changed considerably.
In fact, every day seems to be quite different now.
The same can be said for your home. A simple rearranging of the furnishings can change the mood you feel in the room. It seems like it would be impossible, but try it some time. The space around you when you’re seated, the angle at which you see the light, a new view of a side of the room you normally neglect, all of this affects your mood. If you want a new point of view, you need a new point from which to view it.
I’m a freak about recycling, making things, and using what I have, so I’ve learned how to redo the entire house without using one cent. It’s a matter of taking your patterned thoughts out of your head, dusting off your mind, and coming up with new ways to use old things. I had a friend who had a wine rack and never drank wine. We rolled up her magazines and put them in the holes. Solved many issues; made a lovely piece and also inspired her to read more often than when the magazines were squirreled away on a closet floor “meaning to be read.”
The mind is just as orderly a thing as a computer. You waste storage space with non-important thoughts and create mind clutter that slows you down. You need to create complete order in your environment and get rid of the stuff you really don’t use, simplify, clear out, and have less clutter. When you do this, you not only attract positive energy in your own life because it’s easy to get things done fast, you have no housework taunting you, and you apply that organization to the rest of your life. You also benefit paranormal-wise, as well. Ghosts really don’t like orderly neat efficient spaces. It just doesn’t happen.
Perhaps the act of clearing your head and clearing your house clears the stagnant chi. Whatever the reason, changing things up is a good routine for your brain’s stimulation and to motivate you to take on new tasks.
After all, reinventing yourself and your environment go hand in hand.
