80 | Back to Basics

Feeling out of alignment? It's time to go back to basics! Often, we seek complicated solutions when the most straightforward elements in our lives can help us the most. 

In this week’s episode, I'll break down five areas I bring awareness to when I'm feeling out of alignment. These foundational steps restore the simplicity of time, space, and being that I value. These steps are not a formula to fix how you're feeling but rather a means for genuine self-care. By treating yourself better, you increase your awareness, presence, and self-compassion. It's about recognizing that you don't have to feel amazing all the time and that it's okay to take a step back and simplify. 

Tune in now to learn more about these foundational steps and start your journey towards a simpler, more balanced life.

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Transcript

Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing An Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast we'll go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.

Amelia: Welcome to Episode 80, “Back to Basics.” Hey y’all! I’ll be honest. I’m tired. I didn’t plan my month of rest with as much intention as I could have. Or, more accurately, perhaps taking a step back led me to put into perspective what I’m caring about and carrying each day. Either way, I’m feeling physically sluggish. I’m not overwhelmed, nor am I cluttered. I’m simply hyper aware of how I’m feeling at capacity these days. It’s a signal, and in turn I’m actively reorienting towards the things I can control.

A few weeks ago, I wrote in my email newsletter about one of the “49 Organized Thoughts,” which is Going back to basics is always an option. So, given how I’m feeling right now, I thought I’d expand on what I meant by that a bit here on the podcast. (And, just as an aside, know that you can find the list of all 49 Thoughts in the show notes.) One of A Pleasant Solution’s three core values is “simplicity of time, space, and being.” I don’t like things to be complicated, y’all. I’m always trying to remind myself to keep things simple and to find the most direct way to a solution. Simplicity keeps me grounded. It keeps me focused on what matters most to me, and it allows me to do or not do exactly what I want. This mindset is of benefit to others because it ensures that everyone is getting my absolute best. I’m present. I’m engaged. I’m there not out of obligation but because I truly want to be. It’s taken some time to step into this way of being, yet I think it’s a path many of us take as we age.

Which brings me to today’s topic of going back to basics. My intuition and my body are signaling to me that I need to recalibrate – to simplify. Eventually, that may translate to doing less than I’m doing now or to adjusting my priorities. I’m not at that decision making moment yet. Instead, what I’m doing is simply noticing. And this is something I invite you to do when life feels cluttered, overwhelming, or you feel utterly exhausted. Just like you notice that the ketchup is running low, your child isn’t being honest, or that your car needs gas, you can notice the signals your body is sending you too.

I call it being out of alignment, and after I spend some time actively noticing it’s happening, I remind myself that going back to basics is always an option. So, in today’s episode I’m going to break down five areas I bring awareness to when I’m feeling out of alignment. It’s the foundational work I implement. It’s an active reset that restores the simplicity of time, space, and being that I value. I wanted to share it here on the podcast because we often seek more complicated solutions to how we’re feeling than address the most basic, straightforward elements in our lives.

So first, I want to invite you to consider two questions. Feel free to journal on them or ponder them, but either way, give yourself several minutes with each. They’re purposefully simple questions, yet what I want to encourage you to do is to sit with them. Ask them of yourself several times to see what comes up and if your answer changes over the course of a few hours or a few days. The first question is, “How am I feeling?” At the top of the episode, I shared with you that I’m feeling tired. I qualified this by saying “physically tired, not overwhelmed, not sluggish.” I want you to do the same.

Identifying exactly how you’re feeling may take some practice, and for me I like to think in contrasts. For example, “This is how I like to feel. Well, what’s different than that?” Describe it to yourself. How are you feeling? How are you not feeling? You’re using pure curiosity. Of course, there may be a specific situation in your life that has you feeling a bit triggered, or you may be carrying an overarching feeling about the current season of life you’re in right now. I could list out for you more descriptors for how I’m feeling, but what I want you to see is that you can be holding a variety of emotions and physical sensations at once. You may want your answer to be a straightforward emotion like sad, glad, angry, happy, excited, or frustrated, yet notice if there are a few layers at play for you.

The second question I want you to ask yourself is, “Am I acknowledging and truly feeling these emotions?” Well, you’re probably wondering how you’d even know. To be fair, most of us know when we’re actively feeling more positive emotions like joy, excitement, or anticipation. Yet, most of the more complex emotions or emotional states that seem jumbled or mixed together (feelings like bittersweet or nostalgic) we don’t actively feel into them on a regular basis. Take anger, for example. For you it may be common to squash it down. Anger is complex. It often involves pain, sadness, jealousy or envy, or resentment. Naturally, you’re like, “No thanks!” As I covered in the workshop replay “Why Emotional Avoidance is Causing Your Clutter,” this is where you can end up increasing the layers of your emotional experience by avoiding naming your feelings and processing them, as well as judging yourself for doing so.

Honestly, it’s the opposite of simplicity. Yet, for many of us it contributes to the exhaustion or burnout you experience. This is due to all the internal effort it takes to avoid that question, “Am I acknowledging and truly feeling these emotions?” Alright. Asking yourself those two questions can be enough to point you towards returning to the basics of daily living. We often gloss over or skip these core elements of our health in search of a quick fix to how we’re feeling. For me, this is where I like to start.

Going back to basics is a five-part process.

Step one, I prioritize movement. I like to get outside for long walks and jogs. Being in nature, absorbing Vitamin D, and exercising allows me to process my stress and the load that I'm carrying.

Step two, I prioritize simple meals. I aim to eat less carbohydrates and dairy and more fruits and vegetables. Eating simply allows me to feel lighter.

Step three is I prioritize sleep. Getting the maximum amount of sleep allows me to make the numerous decisions I'm facing with full capacity.

Step four is I prioritize hydrating with water. I quit drinking alcohol over 3 years ago, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Drinking water allows my brain to think, feel, and guide me where I want to go.

Step five is sprinkling in bits of fun and chats with friends. I try to engage in more spur of the moment activities to re-energize and boost my sense of creativity.

If I manage to lean into the top three – movement, simple meals, and sleep – I know I’m on the right track.

Now please note, this isn’t a formula to fix how I’m feeling. Instead, it’s a means for genuine self-care. To recognize and acknowledge how I’m feeling by treating myself better. That’s why I wanted to share it with you. Going back to basics increases your awareness. It increases your presence. It increases your self-compassion. You are not expected to feel amazing and strong all of the time. It’s easy to say to others when we see them going through it. It’s not so easy to apply to ourselves. By getting curious and answering the questions, “How am I feeling?” and “Am I acknowledging and truly feeling these emotions?” you insert the pause necessary to reorient to that essential level of self-care: movement, diet, and sleep. These are the areas we’re most likely to cheat ourselves in the service of others in our lives, but let’s be honest… it adds up.

You’re more organized than you think, and oftentimes that starts by returning to the simplest things that you can do for yourself. And, yes, in case you were wondering, I’m speaking to myself too in this episode. I’m learning and practicing right alongside y'all each week. It’s how I show up most fully for you, and it’s how you’ll show up for the folks and commitments that matter most fully for you too. Talk to y’all soon.

Outro: Hey y'all, share the love. Remember, if you've had at least one valuable takeaway from this episode, someone else will too. I'd encourage you to share it with like-minded folks and suggest they follow the podcast too. I truly appreciate your time and I don't take it for granted.