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Seasoned Living
A Quarterly Column
April-June 2005
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by Bret S. Beall |
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Seasoned. Adj. 1: flavorful, zesty,
interesting; 2: cured, tempered; 3: improved or enhanced
via experience; 4: colloq: of or pertaining to the
seasons.
Living. Noun. Maintaining life in a particular
manner or style; vitality.
Trash and Treasure
Spring has sprung here at Casa Beall in
Chicago, and I find myself thinking about throwing open
the windows to bring in fresh air. I find myself
thinking about what I need to do to refresh my home and
life. I contemplate renewal and rebirth. I meditate on
what I need to grow into a better person. Much of the
answer to these thoughts, contemplations and meditations
can be summarized in two words: spring cleaning!
True (ie, "deep") spring cleaning is about
dealing properly with the "stuff" we might
find, uncover or discover in the process, whether it’s
trash or treasure! It’s more than merely purging. Of
course, anyone who has read my various writings knows
that I am a huge fan of purging (ie, "getting rid
of stuff"). Much of this perspective is recorded in
my article on "Letting Go" at http://www.soulfulliving.com/logic_letting_go.htm.
Since my goal is to always cover new ground with my
writings, to move forward, rather than to revisit the
past, this column is going to have a somewhat different
orientation.
"The Logic of Letting Go" was a theoretical
framework of "letting go" and
"purging," with an emphasis on the different
types of "getting rid of stuff." This column,
"Trash and Treasure," is also theoretical, but
with an emphasis on the actual process of "spring
cleaning" (materially, psychologically and
spiritually), especially where that process yields
wonderful discoveries of both trash and treasure (and
what those discoveries mean for enhancing our lives and
helping us grow).
When beginning spring cleaning, it’s useful to have
some sort of general plan about how to proceed, but that
plan should be very flexible, and it is good to avoid
any preconceptions about what the precise results of the
cleaning should be. I generally start with a general
cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, washing, tossing out
trash). Once the general cleaning is done, it is easier
to go in for a deep cleaning, slowly, one room at a
time, getting behind and under and inside of structures
that are usually in the way of general cleaning. Deep
spring cleaning gets into the dark recesses that we
usually gloss over during routine cleaning. The goal is
to make everything tidy, visually satisfying and
aromatically pleasing … to freshen our external
environment, thus refreshing and enlivening ourselves.
Once you get into those dark corners, it is amazing,
even shocking, what you’ll find. Sometimes you’ll
uncover some really disgusting stuff! Maybe you’ll
discover what was once a piece of fruit that rolled
under a piece of furniture. Perhaps behind the living
room chair you’ll find an unfortunate example of kitty
yark. I know people who have found dead rodents in those
hidden recesses, where they decayed and festered and
grew nastier over time.
Sorry to be so graphic, but I needed to make a
counterpoint: sometimes we find treasures in those
hidden corners! In my own case, the treasure has been as
mundane as recovering a plastic bottle that was the
perfect size for week’s worth of mouthwash for my
travels (the cats found it a great play toy, and it
ended up under the couch). I’ve found books that have
slipped under furniture, or behind bookcases. I have
rediscovered photographs, articles, clippings and
reprints that the cats decided to "file" in
the wrong place (also known as "playing"). My
favorite is finding money; for some reason, that doesn’t
happen too often, but I keep looking! I’m hopeful.
As you must suspect, this discussion of physical
spring cleaning is a metaphor for psychological and
spiritual spring cleaning. Spring is an ideal time for
such "inner" cleaning, as the increasing
warmth and light (after a long, dark, cold winter) can
provide a supportive, comforting backdrop to the hard
work of investigating the dim, hidden, sometimes scary
recesses of our psyches. As with physical spring
cleaning, we have the opportunity to uncover both trash
and treasures; we have to uncover both to truly grow
psychologically and spiritually! Spring is great time
for growing!
We have to discover and reveal the internal trash,
because this psychological and spiritual trash, like
physical trash, will fester, rot, decay and pollute
everything around it. The sooner you discover the trash,
the sooner it is possible to mend the pollution it
caused. Unfortunately, it is often easier to just avoid
or overlook this trash, but that allows it to continue
contaminating everything else (which isn’t pretty!).
We have to summon our personal strength and desire to
grow to clean out the trash residing in the dark, dank
recesses of our psyches. This trash has accumulated over
many years in most cases, so it may take a while to
properly handle the trash, but now is the time to start
working on exposing it, managing it, and then getting
rid of it. If you need help, get help.
At the same time, once we rid ourselves of the trash,
treasures often come into view. These treasures are the
happy memories, the positive accomplishments, the
hopeful dreams and the joyful intentions. Sometimes
these treasures get beaten down, hidden and buried by
the trash, but they need to be brought to the forefront!
They need to be refreshed, encouraged, nurtured, and
allowed to grow to their full potential. These treasures
are the foundation on which our futures are built!
Speaking from personal experience, one of the biggest
pieces of trash I had to extricate from my psyche was
"ego." This was difficult, because
"ego" was tangled with
"self-esteem," and together, these two
mindsets formed a dangerous, out-of-balance dance that
at one point seriously threatened my well-being. Too
much ego, and too little self-esteem, and when they came
together, they pushed anger and fear to the forefront,
obscuring everything else.
But that’s the cool thing! With anger and fear so
visible, it was possible to deal with them and heal
them! Just as with spring cleaning, getting into the
deep recesses, it is possible to get rid of the trash
instead of just glossing over it. It’s harder work to
get in there for the deep cleaning, but it’s
worthwhile! In my own case, once ego, anger and fear
were revealed and (mostly) purged, some amazing
treasures came into view; modesty and humility prevent
my presenting specific details!
The process can also be really intimidating, because
you never know what you are going to discover. In that
way, I am reminded of the story of Pandora’s box. Just
to give you some insight into the unconventional way my
mind works, the entire story of Pandora’s box is
irrelevant to my essay, except for the very end. You
see, if you think of Pandora’s box as symbolic of
either your home, or your psyche, you will realize that
they all contain a lot of trash (Pandora’s box
contained all of the ills of the world, until they were
released onto an unsuspecting humanity). But, once you
get rid of the trash, you will find Hope. Hope helps
every problem. Hope is one of the greatest discoveries,
a true treasure! Allow Hope to blossom.
Once you clear out the trash, you can display the
treasures. This is true not only for physical cleaning,
but also for psychic purging. You deserve a home as free
of debris as possible, and you deserve a psyche equally
free of obstacles. You deserve freshness, beauty and joy
both outside and in. Your home is a sanctuary that
should function to nourish and comfort your psyche. Your
psyche (or your soul) is your essence, and it is sacred;
it deserves the opportunity to flourish, to allow you to
be all that you can be. Put your best face forward.
Share your treasures with others so that they, too, can
grow.
Even though the cleaning metaphor invokes spring,
this effort of self-discovery should be ongoing! We are
imperfect beings by nature, so we are always works in
progress, always growing, always improving. I’m very
fond of the expression, "Today is the first day of
the rest of your life." Don’t procrastinate. Get
those houses (physical and spiritual) clean! Get some
fresh air in your life!
Don’t try to do everything at once. Begin your Path
of discovery (and spring cleaning) slowly, but surely.
Abandon perfection. Embrace Hope. Find your personal
treasures!
© Copyright 2005 Bret S. Beall. All Rights
Reserved.
Read Past "Seasoned
Living" Columns:
Jan-Mar
2004 - "Life Reflection: Looking Into Mirrors"
Bret S. Beall, MS, PhD (Cand). As the CEO of GOD-DESS,
I help people live fantastic lives with minimal time,
effort or money. I have used my rigorous scientific
training to synthesize psychology, sensory input, and
logic, with global cuisine, décor, lifestyle concepts,
indoor gardening and travel for each individual in an
easy-to-understand, easy-to-create and easy-to-maintain
style. For more information, please visit my website, www.god-dess.com,
or call me at 773.508.9208, or email me at bret@god-dess.com.
Let’s start at the beginning,
though. I was born in California’s San Francisco Bay
area and lived there until I was seven. During this
time, my family often took vacations to the seashore and
to the redwood forests. There, I first felt the great
interconnectedness of all life. At seven, I moved with
my family to St. Louis, Missouri, where I continued my
environmental interests (including growing houseplants).
When I was twelve, we moved to the Ozarks of southern
Missouri, where I lived on a farm and witnessed
intimately the cycle of birth, life and death. We raised
cattle, ducks, geese and rabbits, and I worked on our
neighbor’s pig farm; we also grew a variety of produce
and I first learned about preparing and preserving food.
It was also at this time that I truly began acting on my
interests in art, design and esthetics.
I did my undergraduate work in
geology at the University of Missouri - Columbia,
graduating with general honors and honors in geology; my
coursework included a typical array of liberal arts
courses (art, philosophy, history) along with the
sciences (geology, physics, chemistry, biology,
anthropology). By living in an off-campus efficiency, I
learned the basics of simple cooking and living. After
graduation, I went on to Masters and PhD work in
evolutionary paleontology at The University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor; my studies included geology, paleontology,
biology, ecology and evolution, all presented within the
framework of proper scientific methodology.
Ann Arbor has a terrific
Farmer’s Market, which inspired me and helped me to
act on my interest in ethnic cuisines and entertaining;
this had to be done on a budget (given my graduate
student salary) and efficiently (given my graduate
student time requirements). I satisfied my artistic
inclinations by doing extensive scientific illustration
to accompany my original research. Teaching courses and
speaking publicly at student seminars, at national and
international meetings, and at various clubs and
organizational meetings provided a level of excitement I
had not experienced previously as I shared the
information and data that I had collected. “Sharing”
was the key, I realized, and this is when the seeds of
GOD-DESS were planted.
I left Ann Arbor for
Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History to accept a
position as Curatorial Coordinator of Mazon Creek
Paleontology. My long hours working on both museum
responsibilities and my own research required living
both time-efficiently and cost-effectively. In a very
short period of time, I realized I did not want to spend
the rest of my life within the academic world. I had
already experienced a high level of international
success, praise and recognition, for which I am grateful
(including making it into the Guinness Book of World
Records, and having Johnny Carson make a joke about
my research on The Tonight Show). I
eventually left the rarefied world of paleontology. This
is when the seeds of GOD-DESS began to sprout and grow.
I spent the next decade in the
field of not-for-profit healthcare association
management, honing my skills in efficiency maximization,
streamlining, prioritization, customer service,
budgeting, organization, communication and
simplification, and applying the rigors of my scientific
training to the needs of my clients. My clients
experienced extraordinary growth and profitability.
Although my salary was better
than it was in academia, I still practiced my
cost-efficient living, including preparing meals at home
to eat at work. The hours were often very long, so
time-effectiveness and efficiency-management continued
to be important, if not vital. I traveled extensively in
my various roles (including organizational
representative, event organizer, executive manager, and
lecturer); often, I tacked on vacation time to
cost-effectively explore the various cities and regions
that I was fortunate to visit, which further enhanced my
travel planning skills. On my own time during this
decade, GOD-DESS grew into a fledgling company, relying
on the empiricism of my own experiences and my research.
After more than a decade of
helping my clients experience almost 900% budgetary
growth, 900% membership growth, 400% meeting attendance
growth, and enhanced visibility that cannot be
quantified, I knew it was time to become my own boss and
devote myself 100% to GOD-DESS.
I believe we are always in the
right place at the right time. Because of that belief,
everything that I do, whether paleontology, or executive
healthcare management, or lifestyle counseling, I do
well, to the absolute best of my abilities. A lifetime
of experience and research has now created GOD-DESS and
everything it can do for you. I am grateful.
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