Reconnecting With Your Space

I have been completely overwhelmed lately. My classes started. I have had multiple mini allergy attacks, and medical appointments that were challenging. When I feel overwhelmed, my OCD starts to become more intense. I feel lucky and grateful that I have the awareness that these thoughts and feelings are a result of OCD. That being said, it’s still challenging. How do I deal with this? In the short term, I use grounding techniques. In the long term, I find things that I can control. Often, what I can control is the space that I live in.

With the pandemic, I have spent an excessive amount of time at home. Not only at home but in my room or my office. One day, I woke up and realized that my space was no longer working for me. It didn’t bring me a lot of joy. These feelings are usually the result of being overwhelmed. I indulge them because it helps me release stress and feel rejuvenated. Reconnecting with my space is a gift. It requires spending no money which is always a plus.

I start by looking at what I have and the space I have. When I made this switch, I realized that I wanted my desk/vanity to be in front of the window. I originally had it in the closet to have a space solely to get ready. It worked really well there but I feel as though I want sun on my face as I’m getting ready for my day. One of my favorite things to do in the morning is to open my curtains. No matter what weather it always brightens my day to see the world.

Working from the idea that I wanted my desk in front of the window, I went to work. I shifted only a couple pieces of furniture but it gave my space a whole new feel. This is also nice because it gives me the opportunity to deep clean spaces that I normally ignore. I had no idea how dirty my end table was. After I got the furniture squared away, I focused on pictures. I have several photos on my wall. I noticed that there were a few that didn’t fit with how I wanted to spend 2021. I removed old photos and replaced them with photos that brought new meaning to my room.

All of these changes were minor. It took me three to four hours to move things. That required breaks for stopping. That also includes time I spent cleaning. After all of that was done, I felt like singing. I woke up that morning feeling a little down. I didn’t feel like myself and by the end of the day of getting stuff moved, I was joyful.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is if you don’t let yourself feel emotions, they’ll only get stronger. This has made my life challenging in the past. I have strived in the past couple months to acknowledge and feel every emotion I have. Whether I like the emotion or not, I let it be there. I don’t make decisions out of emotions but I explore them and let them sit with me. It’s completely changed my perspective.

I hope that your day is going well. I hope that your day is filled with joy, positivity, and laughter. I hope you find peace, love, and happiness.