The Japanese house is known for a lack of clutter, helping to create a sense of calmness in the householder and the visitor alike. We often think that the primary reason for this is a Zen like minimalism in their homes. The rooms have only a few objects in them and each one has a quiet kind of elegance. There is another secret to the lack of clutter in Japanese rooms, it is the practice of giving everything a home and returning something to its home immediately after it’s used. It is relatively less understood compared to the practice of minimalism, but it is perhaps just as important. I’ve been practicing my own version of this for a few years now. Before going to bed at night, I arrange things in their right place, so that the rooms of our house will quietly greet me when I first go downstairs in the morning to make my coffee. It is a small practice, and I commend it to you.
Well and good, but couldn’t this practice be applied to other aspects of my life? That’s a good question. In considering it I’ve come to the conclusion that the most cluttered space in my life is not anything outside of me, it is my mind. The associations of my mind are like a low end tourist shop in a resort town, with all nature of bric a brac piled high, a lot of what might kindly be called souvenirs, but more accurately should be called junk. T shirts with stupid sayings stacked next to artificially scented candles with the name of the town on the container. What a place.
Just so, inside my mind I have a constant stream of associations about events long gone or events that will never happen, piled up together along with considerations of imagined slights and insults, imagined failings and imagined successes, all appearing one after the other. What a mind.
How would I even begin to declutter this mind? A place for everything and everything in its place certainly doesn’t apply. But what if instead I were to substitute the idea of a time for everything and everything in its time? What if I were to ignore the urge to clutter up my mind with past and future imaginings? Just to be clear, thinking about the past and future can often be necessary and valuable, it can lead to useful learnings. But what if I were to ask myself, does what I’m thinking belong in my mind right now, or is it simply adding to the clutter?
Posing that question to myself again and again might make my mind a much quieter place, one that would be more of a pleasure to inhabit. Maybe it would be worth giving it a try and see?
Comments are welcome
A very good practice indeed my friend! I, too, am trying to make less in my home. I’m also trying to make more room in my mind and soul for the people and things that mean the most to me. In this world of constant clutter, information, news and such, I love to go outdoors and listen to the birds sing and watch the squirrels gather and run. I hope your Thanksgiving is a marvelous time spent with those you love. Blessings to you and your family !
Very happy to receive this especially
“Out of the blue” always seems the right moment, this moment.
Much appreciated and happy to have our moment at the Woods
Hopefully again we shall meet
So good to hear from you, Paula. Much love. And Happy Thanksgiving to you! Dennis
Dara, as you may surmise, our chance encounter precipitated this post. More to follow, fellow seeker. Dennis
Great thoughts, Dennis. My mind certainly resembles one of those tourist shops of disorganization. Central to the work I’m engaging in is to tidy up and quiet my mind. A lifelong pursuit, I imagine.
Life’s synchronicities never fail to intrigue me. On my daily walk with my dog this morning, I was listening to an audio about how our thoughts are not our own / they are not us, and the importance of observing those thoughts rather than being controlled by them. In so doing, we need to observe more outside of our heads as well. Rather than just rushing from task to task, it is important to ‘be in the moment’ and observe the life we are living. While listening to this, I noticed a Magpie who came to join me, flying from fence post to fence post along the trail as if joining us on our walk. Deciding to follow the advice on the audio, I turned off said audio and instead walked with my newfound friend. The trail is about three miles, and he joined us all the way home, and as I approached the door of my home, we said ‘good bye’, and he flew off in the direction from which he came. I would likely not have observed this in days/weeks/months/years past. Then I sat down to my computer and a friend had forwarded this article while I was out walking. The observer is the observed.
It is a lifetime work, indeed, Tag. Luckily there is much progress over the years. Dennis
Good to hear from a new voice, Joe. Your story was something I enjoyed reading. And yes, the observer is the observed. It seems the animals and even the trees are more aware of us than we are of them. Have a good day. Dennis