Gaby
The year-end deep clean isn’t just about decluttering your home; it’s also about clearing your life space for new energies.
Room for Change
The tradition of tossing out the unnecessary as the New Year approaches carries both practical and esoteric significance. Clutter creates chaos on both physical and mental levels: it drains your energy, fosters a mindset of scarcity, breeds habits of procrastination, and forces you to tolerate discomfort while putting off problem-solving. When tasks and plans are perpetually “stuck,” an unconscious pull toward the past prevents you from focusing on the present and welcoming the future into your life.
A “reset” and renewal can accelerate desired changes, opening up opportunities for achieving new successes, while “hoarding” possessions can stifle growth. As psychologists say, you can’t pour something into a full cup. To welcome the new, you must let go of the old. Uncontrolled accumulation leads to stagnation in your affairs, a slowdown in your life pace, and a constant replay of the past. The picture of life won’t change if you keep painting it with the same colors. Each new day brings a sense of déjà vu because we cling to what has outlived its usefulness, missing out on new opportunities.
The Dangers of Accumulation
Mindless and indiscriminate collecting of items is a psychological disorder known as hoarding. This condition, often referred to as “Plyushkin syndrome,” is characterized by an obsession with keeping items that multiply without practical need, as they remain unused.
A related condition is disposophobia—the fear of parting with possessions. Both forms of “quirkiness” tend to manifest more with age. However, even without a diagnosis, we accumulate more and more items over the years, making it increasingly difficult to part with them. The motivation to hold onto excess belongings often stems from a rational desire to save for children, grandchildren, or “a rainy day.” This makes sense: in tough times, old possessions can become material or spiritual resources.
Yet, most of the supplies, rarities, and souvenirs in our treasure troves only drain our energy with unnecessary emotions and upkeep. Unless you are a collector, an art connoisseur, a fan of the “wabi-sabi” aesthetic, a dedicated minimalist, or an advocate of “mindful consumption,” then patched-up, worn-out, old junk will only introduce negativity into your consciousness, shaping your outlook toward finding satisfaction in the bare minimum.
Get Rid of the Junk
There are general guidelines for what items you should part with without regret. To avoid programming yourself for illness and poverty, it’s wise to eliminate accumulators of negative energy that harm your well-being and luck. First and foremost, these are dust collectors—unpleasant, damaged, or unusable items. Feel free to part with anything you haven’t used in the past year, items that have expired, things that have no place, or those that don’t bring you joy.
Review your grains, spices, medications, impulse purchases, mediocre gifts, and clothing and shoes that are no longer in use. You have excess items if you find yourself constantly tidying up in their storage spaces: closets, shelves, bags. If it’s hard to find what you need among the clutter. If items are stored in the wrong places. If you aren’t using certain wardrobe pieces. If your belongings don’t align with your lifestyle.
Start your decluttering with items considered “energetically dangerous”: broken electronics and clocks, “unfortunate” live and artificial plants, wilting flowers, dried arrangements, herbariums, shells, taxidermy, chipped or cracked dishes, other people’s belongings, last year’s calendars, wrappers, scraps of paper, and small trash. According to folk beliefs, these items negatively impact your fate and threaten your material well-being. The criteria for selecting items should be your emotional response to them. Get rid of everything that doesn’t please you.
What to Do with the Excess?
Unwanted items can be sold, recycled, or donated to those in need. You can give them away through social media or online platforms, or offer them to charitable organizations and social institutions: orphanages, shelters, homes for the elderly and disabled, and centers assisting displaced persons, among others.
However, remember that superstitions advise against giving away personal items like mirrors, underwear, and things that have come into contact with hair—hats, scarves, combs, hairpins, and hairdryers. Additionally, certain items, as the saying goes, should not be given away for free (it’s considered bad luck): personal jewelry and bedding. Honestly ask yourself whether you want to keep any lingering energy around you or if it’s better to make space for the new. Don’t just toss everything unnecessary into a box to hide it away; genuinely donate it to the homeless, take it to a humanitarian center, or leave it by a church.
Clean Your Gadgets and Your Mind
Pre-holiday cleaning isn’t just about getting rid of dirt and clutter in your apartment. You need to tidy up your cottage, car, garage, and workplace because chaos and progress in your affairs are incompatible. It’s also time to review your to-do list. Close out any “hanging” tasks (pending obligations and unresolved issues that have been waiting for over a month): either get them moving or eliminate them. This will free up energy for new tasks.
Now is the time to remove unnecessary information: from your computer, social media, and your mind. Get rid of outdated files and connections. The trash bin should contain everything that weighs down your memory like a dead weight. Clean up your desktop, subscriptions, and friends list. Reject anything destructive and filter your content moving forward.
Keep only positivity in your worldview, and in both your virtual and real surroundings, maintain only those contacts that inspire you. After all, you can’t improve your life without correcting the mistakes of your past experiences. And striving for order should be harmonious, not fanatical. Everything should be organized and in its rightful place. You should even tidy up your visions of the future. Take only what is essential with you into tomorrow. The lighter your load, the easier your journey will be.
