There’s magic in the mess
I’ve always been a bit messy on the back-end of things. From a distance my life may appear complete, but take a closer look and you’ll see my closets remain unorganized, there’s always a few unfinished steps from a previous project, and on the inside I never quite feel like I have it together. I’m hard on myself, constantly critiquing my own work, wondering if I’ve done a ‘good enough’ job, and I experience paralyzing fear if I can’t do something perfectly.
Sound familiar?
Life bombards us with so many details that demand our attention and exhaust our energy. From monthly bills to keeping the house clean even the basics of modern living can feel daunting. Occasionally (or often) these tasks can fall by the wayside when something more pressing comes up. Our wellness practice is one that gets cut out of the priority list first, leaving us feeling yet again like we failed ourselves.
Just breathe, honey. You’re not alone.
We simply need a better system.
What if we view our wellness practices as fuel to help us navigate life better:
Movement, mindfulness, or yoga practice are non-negotiable fuel for life and helps us do everything else better. First we move, breathe, and connect to nourish ourselves and then we face the world. Find a class that works for you here.
Clean the house only when it feels inspiring. Then it becomes a practice of devotion and joy, not a chore.
Create a system for monthly tasks and dedicate a day to complete them.
Remember to embrace the messiness of life. There are gifts along the path if we forge forward perfectly imperfect. Please remember we may never get it quite right and that’s okay. There are a million right ways to get things done. What’s most important is that we are experiencing life fully as we navigate it and we nourished ourselves along the way.
I’m learning how to embrace my mess and to move forward bravely even if it’s not ‘perfect’. But what’s perfect? And to whom? Notice where your need for perfection came from. Was it a parent-figure? A partner? Someone who was dealing with their own sense of insecurity that they projected on you or you picked up on inherently? Chances are your perfectionism isn’t yours and you have the freedom to choose differently.
Just now I look up from my writing to witness a songbird perched outside my living room window with her eye on a big fat housefly on the inside of the glass struggling to escape. She hops around attentively on a lilac branch awaiting her perfect moment. Quickly taking flight she awkwardly bonks the window and flits off beyond the yard. I’ve never felt so seen. She went all-in for something she wanted, so excited she could taste it, and she flopped. I stand up to shoo the fly out of the house and trip over a leg of my arm chair. We are the same, she and I and we both decide to move on with our day.
I guess the point here is sometimes we try, we miss the mark, that’s okay. Brush yourself off and go on about your day, perfectly imperfect. There will always be another opportunity to achieve what you want and there’s magic in the mess if you take time to tune-in. Keep moving forward, you’re doing fine.
Visit our main page for a calendar of classes designed to help us navigate life in a better way.
—Jen Evanson, Joule Founder
