Hello again! Welcome to part two of my “Clear Your Clutter” series. I’m psyched that you’re back. For those just tuning in, this post is part of a three-part spring-inspired series that I recently started. If you missed part one, you can check it out here.

Let’s do a quick review, shall we?

Clutter is chaos. Clutter is constricting.
Clutter keeps you from creating.

In my world, clutter comes down to three components:

The literal (physical) clutter
The feelings (emotional) clutter
The thinking (mental) clutter

You can’t conquer just one of these areas and expect to live a balanced, focused life.

So, here we are. Your next B3 Breakthrough!

Clear Your Clutter (Part 2): The Feelings Clutter
Is there someone you haven’t spoken to in a while? Family? Friend? I spoke with my grandparents recently just because and I couldn’t believe how much it caught them by surprise. In Pop Pop’s words, “Well, you know, you kids are all grown up now, I don’t expect to hear from you all the time.” WRONG, POP POP. You will hear from me because I want to call, because I care, because I made an effort to see how you’re doing. I can’t tell you how good I feel after making a phone call and surprising someone I haven’t spoken to in a long time. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives, not realizing how much the gesture will also mean to someone else. Personally, I subconsciously have so much pent up guilt when I haven’t talked to the people who are important to me in a while and then, the longer I wait or put it off, I get scared to call like they’ll forget who I am or be mad. That’s not the case. You are psyching yourself out for no good reason when you do this. That emotional crutch, those little fears are what you need to learn to overcome.

Your second challenge:

Make a list of all the people you’d genuinely like to catch up with. The friend you had in school that you lost touch with, the girl you know from back home who is going through a tough time, the grandparent you really miss, an old acquaintance that is kicking butt in life (because let’s face it, everything is on Facebook). The list can be as long or short as you like, but sort it in order of priority. The easiest way to go about doing this is by how you feel about not calling this person more often, maybe it’s someone you haven’t talked to in a long time or someone who you only ever text – whoever they are, they should be at the top. Once you have your list, hunt down their contact info. You may have to do some leg work, but that’s just how it goes.

Over the next several months, take regular time out of your day to make someone else’s with a phone call (or, if you have to, a well-thought email or handwritten note). If you want to step it up a notch, buy yourself a little notebook to keep all these important contacts in and on special occasions or when you feel like sharing a random act of kindness, reach out to them with a simple card, letter or phone call. Make it a goal to genuinely reach out to these peeps. Make the call. Meet for tea. Send a letter. Whoever you need to reach out to, do it. When you do it once, you’ll start to realize how normal it is to communicate with those you care about and not just when you need something, but when you actually just care to catch up. You never know where this may lead and you’ll definitely come to realize how much this meaningful communication is affecting your YOU in a positive way.

There are many ways to rid yourself of the feelings clutter but I’ve found that communication is numero uno. You can’t expect to go through life alone and you don’t have to. But please don’t call your ex. That won’t get you anywhere.

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