Welcoming Fall with Clarity

Summer has officially ended and fall is here. My favorite time of the year. It’s crisp and cool with sweaters and boots. I think what I like most about this time though is the shift in self. The time to reflect and come inward, mentally and physically. I’ve been speaking with a lot of other moms lately who have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with life around them but also happy to welcome the fall season. As we shift from the active busy summer into a reflective fall, how do we change the environment around us to fit our new needs? Pulling from the feeling of being overwhelmed, I think step one is letting go of what no longer serves us or our kids. As we spring clean, we must also fall clean; we must put back together the chaos from summer in a refined manner. Clear the clutter so we can reflect with clarity. 

I am not going to lie, getting rid of stuff is probably one of my favorite activities. The weightlessness you feel afterwards is rewarding and I think as moms we could all use a little bit more of that feeling. So, where do we begin? As you read this you might be sitting in your living room looking around at all the toys or clothes and shoes spewed around you. Maybe feeling a little overwhelmed too. We begin with one word, plastic. How many items around you are petroleum-based plastic products? How many items are you wearing that are petroleum-based fabric? 

We are all energy. Everything around us is energy. Everything emits a frequency. Yourself, your child, your pants, your underwear, your shoes, your electronics, your kids toys, the food you eat, etc. Some items emit a higher frequency than other items and that is what we want to strive for. As humans, we want to emit a healthy frequency. We want to feel that weightlessness or elevation, not be bogged down by the items around or on us. To put it into more quantifiable terms, I’m going to start by talking about fabric. 

For starters, a healthy human body has a frequency of about 100 Hz. Wearing fabrics of a lower frequency can negatively impact a human’s well being. There are two categories of fabrics, natural and petroleum-based. Natural fabrics include cotton, linen, wool, hemp, and silk. Petroleum based fabrics include, rayon, polyester, spandex, and acrylic. Linen and wool emit a frequency of 5,000 Hz. Organic Cotton comes in about the same Hz as a healthy human, 100. In comparison, rayon and polyester, both a petroleum-based fabric, has the frequency of 15 Hz, which is the same frequency as a diseased person. There is a lot of other information that determines the Hz of a fabric but I think I will save more details for another post. Let’s return to the previous sentence, rayon and polyester fabrics emit a frequency of a diseased person. Get rid of it. I don’t care if the fabric states it’s special because it’s made from recycled polyester. You are still wearing plastic water bottles, now it’s just recycled plastic water bottles. Get rid of it. When my daughter was born, we only asked that people buy her cotton or organic cotton fabric. Her fresh baby skin didn’t deserve to be covered in petroleum and neither does mine. For the past few years, I have been cleaning my closet of petroleum-based fabrics and replacing it with natural fibers. This past week I finally found some cotton leggings at the thrift store and I am so happy to get rid of my Lulu Lemon plastic workout leggings. So, step one in decluttering for clarity, get rid of all your plastic clothing, I promise you will feel a difference. As you stand in your closet, you will feel a difference. 

Step two, bye bye plastic toys. Oomph, as a mom, I get so tired of cleaning up messes. I feel like I am always picking up toys, art supplies, games, blocks, etc. This past winter, I became so overwhelmed with all the stuff we had accumulated that one night I stayed up until 3am, roaming the house with a trash bag in hand putting all the plastic toys and items in it. It felt great and honestly, my daughter didn’t even seem to miss whatever I had gotten rid of. Now, I am a person of balance and I know it is so hard to 100% say no to plastic, especially when it’s all around us. More so, I think it’s hard to say no to my daughter. For example, we have two barbies but that’s my limit, no more. We also have a lot of dress up clothing that is of course made of polyester. I can’t bring it in me to get rid of it all because it makes her happy. So, within reason, I do my best as a Mom to limit the amount of plastic my daughter is surrounded by and plays with. Alternatively, we have a lot of wood items and we are constantly out in nature. As an artist and a Mom with a creative child, my biggest struggle is acrylic paint. One day I hope to have a better alternative because Lord knows my kid gets it all over her body. Blah! 

Another area of the home where the plastic or petroleum starts to accumulate… the kitchen. Plastic spatulas, goodbye, little chunks are burning off into the food that’s cooked. Are you still using nonstick pans? Get rid of them. You are consuming harmful chemicals. Plastic containers, throw them away. Granted, we use glass containers with plastic lids. Still plastic, but at least our food isn’t being submerged in it. Our family lives non-traditionally and this past summer we cooked all of our food in cast-iron pans. Gives some nutrients back into the food or at least keeps the little that it has in it.

To put it simply, plastic is a disease. It is a disease that has taken over our lives and our environment and it has to stop. We have to wake up to the life we have created and initiate change. If we collectively all refuse to buy plastic toys or clothes for our kids and ourselves they will eventually stop making them. Supply and demand. I will say there are some great alternatives starting to emerge. Lego is moving toward utilizing hemp to make their products. There are studies out there about mushrooms eating plastic. We aren’t doomed, change is coming, but we have to initiate it ourselves too. Sometimes that feels hard, we feel small but as a Mom, how I initiate change is in my purchasing power as well as the influence I have in my child's life. It has to start somewhere. If I stop buying and utilizing plastic in my household then my daughter will carry that into her life and hopefully the next generation will carry that into their life. It’s all learned behavior right? Let’s teach our kids and give our kids the opportunity to be healthy humans, in all aspects of life. We deserve that too. I hope that you welcome the shift of the seasons, that you find clarity and weightlessness as you clear the clutter, and in doing so, see your reflection more clearly.