After what was both a busy, yet fun filled, family orientated Christmas filled with the delights of lots of food, good company, a couple of country walks and a much-needed break in the Shire aka the Peak District – a huge love of mine…. I have come into the new year feeling refreshed and ready to start again.
With a fast-paced life in the city where between studying, working the day job, seeing clients on placement – and a hint of a social life it came as a welcome rest from the real world. No work. No studying. No worries.
There is so much to be said for self-care and how we choose to indulge ourselves in things that make us feel better and take a break from the everyday stresses. For me that usually comes in the form of exercise, music and as of recently meditation – an honest attempt at trying to slow this fast-paced life down I seem to have adopted, along with the rest of the world.
However, it wasn’t until the first week into the new year, where I found myself using my time off to both do nothing (no plan is the best plan) and also get all the odd jobs and little niggles that had been staring at me for some time finally done. After saying goodbye to Christmas and putting the house back to its usual arrangements I continued with the theme of clearing out and progressed on to gutting the wardrobe and taking bags full of clobber to a local charity shop.
The very act of throwing things out – out with the old in with the new scenario has spoken volumes to how I’ve felt. Not only that I had a sense of starting the new year a fresh, with less baggage and one less old hoodie in the wardrobe that hasn’t seen the light of day for I don’t know how long. It is such a simple task. One we don’t often take the time out enough to do. But once we’ve committed to it, oh how much better It feels.
It is now a couple of weeks later, after this very act, however I have still been reveling in the feeling it has given me since. Once said out loud it feels painstakingly obvious and yet I still never get around to doing it – but oh how good it feels to start again.
This got me thinking about clients coming to therapy and doing this with their emotional baggage.
Sometimes we all just need to get rid of some of our old baggage that’s been taking up too much space for us and offer it to someone else, who will listen, carefully dissect it with you, whilst allowing you the space to do with it what you want and come out of it the way I feel now: Refreshed, A little lighter and ready to tackle a whole new year ahead and any challenges that may or may not come.
Counselling comes in many forms. But at its simplest, it can be a way to tackle the hoarding we’ve done for years and a great excuse for a good clear out.
A new year doesn’t necessarily have to mean I’m going to the extremes of making several resolutions I’ll not keep and trying to change the world… But by feeling like I’ve started a fresh and no longer holding on to bits of my past, whether it is that old hoody or pair of jeans, or cathartically clearing out emotional baggage in the counselling room, a recognition of the importance of this and its place has had a significant impact on me and I hope this is what it feels like for my clients when allowing me to take their ‘bag of old clothes’ from them and have a good dig around.