The Flipside of Filling the Well

I was talking to my husband the other day about how he was feeling in life– overwhelmed and stressed over the sense of not being on top of things.

Completely familiar feeling to me,  we all  know it– the burnt out feeling.

I was saying how we needed to make space for him to get “filled up”– pursue the fire and passion of something he loved again– or maybe simply get together with some good friends and feel refreshed.

I was trying to make the case to prioritize that over spending time making sure everything at home was organized and squared away.

And he response was, “Yeah, of course, that is important, Lis, but I feel like I need to unclog more than fill up right now.  If I could just have a couple hours to clean out the garage or straighten through my schedule book– that would feel incredible– to put some order back into parts of my life that feel disorganized.”

And the light bulb went off.

Our inner clutter reflects our outer clutter…as much as our outer clutter impacts our inner clutter.

Inner clutter– on a physical and mental level can be cared for through excellent nutrition, stress management, relationship building, creating, doing things you love and enjoy, movement, connection to God, ect.

Our outer clutter– the state of our homes, the cleanliness, the organization, the systems, the upkeep, routine and schedules we keep…that is just as important.

The balance of filling up and unclogging.

Both are so necessary to our well being.

Thinking of the example of a sink :  of course you want to put clear, life giving water in (fill up the well)…but if you have clogged pipes (disorganized, clutter)– that needs to be tended to as well.

We need both– attention to the care of our life maintenance and our home maintenance for a smooth running system.

Do you tend to focus on one, to the exclusion of the other?  Are you better at life maintenance or home maintenance?  Do you find it difficult to strike the right balance in your life?