Happy Monday Joy Chasers! Remember no coming down with a Case of the Monday’s today.
I know Mondays are not easy. For a lot of people they are even more difficult if they are going into a work or other situations that are just sucking the joy right out of them. That’s why I thought Monday would be the best day for this guest post from Chasing Joy Ambassador Cherise Rollins on Environmental Wellness. We can’t always control our professional situations but there are other aspects of our environment that we can control.
Environmental WellnessMany people refer to “environmental wellness” as an awareness of the earth’s resources and your individual impact on these resources. This is certainly part of the definition, but there is another essential, less talked about aspect – the health of your personal environment. This is the space that you personally occupy on this earth. Think of it as the sphere of space that follows you wherever you go. You control what comes in and out of that sphere.
There are so many factors that contribute to the health of your personal environment – who you interact with, how you live, the activities you engage in, what you eat, think, say, do…the list goes on and on. It may be easier to list some characteristics of a person with a healthy personal environment. This person may:
- Keep the company of healthy people, both at work and at home
- Purchase foods that are nourishing for the body and mind
- Avoid activities that risk his/her safety or well-being
- Engage in activities that inspire, encourage, and uplift
- Live in a home that is a comfortable place to relax and recharge daily
I’m especially compelled to share my thoughts on personal environmental wellness because I’ll be the first to admit how easy it is to lose sight of how important it is to maintain a healthy personal space. I want to be happy in my “sphere” but often times I don’t do a good job at playing gatekeeper.
I recently started a new job after being out of work for over a year – I’m a single gal living alone in my 30’s with a mortgage to pay, so I accepted a job with an extremely negative and draining environment that has adversely affected my emotional, physical and mental health. I may not have the luxury of quitting, but the point is that I should be aware that this situation can’t be long-term and I should be actively searching for a plan to try to change the situation.
Just to make sure I’m being clear – an environmentally healthy person probably doesn’t live the “perfect” life. We all have challenges in our lives, but an environmentally healthy person is aware of all the environmental factors that impact their health and does what is within their control to create a healthy “sphere.” For the most part there is no right or wrong answer. The choice that is healthy for you as a person is most likely healthy for the earth at large too.
If you’ve ever been in a situation like mine where you feel a major part of your life is out of your control and isn’t nourishing you the way it should, do something supportive for yourself in an environment you do have some control over – your home environment. As an interior stylist, my life’s passion is to help people understand how important their home spaces are to their lives and to help them create a space that is positive, supportive, inspiring, nourishing and all of the things you need it to be.
You may not know where to start inside your home and that’s ok. Organization is a great place to start. Visit my post “Magic Vertical Storage” to discover a few simple steps to create an organization system in your utility closet – a place that is often times very challenging to organize. The steps are easy and once it’s done you will have a better idea of how to organize other spaces in your home. If you have a room or a closet in your house that feels “out of control” – tackle that space as best you can. Reduce clutter and organize it.
By organizing your space and focusing on your environmental wellness you will be sending a message to the universe that you are doing what you can to take care of yourself and you are making room for better things in your life. You are getting in the right mindset to accept all the good coming your way. Additionally, you will feel good about your ability to take care of yourself at home and will find that organization makes your everyday life easier, even if it’s just saving you a few minutes of time in the morning to locate your shoes and coat because you finally know where to find them.
When there are things happening in your life that are sucking the joy out of you but are out of your control, do you focus on the areas of your life that are within your control like Cherise suggests? Does having your home enviornment in order make you feel like other areas of your life are more manageable? Is there an area of your home environment that you need to get organized so that you can feel more in control of your environmental wellness?
Cherise Rollins contributes to Chasing Joy as a Chasing Joy Ambassador. Cherise is a Professional Interior Stylist & Lighting Expert. Her mission is to make home personalization accessible to everyone. On her blog, ispaci, Cherise provides design tips and ideas to help people create homes that are fully equipped to support their personalities and lifestyles. As part of the Chasing Joy team, Cherise helps others find joy by maximizing environmental wellness, order, and beauty within their homes
I absolutely agree with this! When my space is a mess, it's hard for me to function. Thanks for this reminder to stay on top of that in order to stay well.
Hi Brandi – Yes it's so great how little things like less mess/clutter can go a long way for our emotional health and happiness. The really great thing is when you have organization systems that help maintain your space, so that you are really doing little work to keep it going 🙂
Thanks for guest posting Cherise.