Many of us don’t realize that the spaces in which we do our work (home office, car, kitchen, etc.) are sacred. We’re so busy using them, that we don’t stop long enough to notice what a blessing it is to have not just shelter, but also light, space, quiet.

It can be so nourishing to stop and notice this.

By my front door, there is a little cove about waist height and about 3 inches deep where I put my intentions, prayer candles, and a beautiful icon of Mary of Guadeloupe. While I don’t spend a lot of time there, all I have to do is be near that space and I feel nourished, more alive.

So I wanted to ask you, dear reader:

What part of your home feels sacred to you?

Do you have a beloved corner in your workspace that radiates inspiration and intention?

Although it can sometimes become dusty and neglected, many home offices have sacred corners or little altars that remind of of who we are, of our place in the world, and provide us with a glimmer of transcendence in the midst of our harried lives.

My home office altar of inspiration

What is currently working well for me:

Lovingly chosen objects displayed together. A few months ago, I re-created my sacred space and took a photo to share. There are just a few things on a bookshelf – a painting my grandmother did, a finger labyrinth I made with some cherished friends, and a sign I made that reminds me of Who’s In Charge.

I add objects periodically, significant ones that remind me of people I love and cherished moments and places.

Big, fat collages all over. I make a collage for each of the 9 areas of life – about every year – and I hang them all over my office. I love them. They’re beautiful to look at, inspirational, and they turn my whole office into sacred space.

All office, all the time. A while ago, I decided that I didn’t want my clothes to live in my office closet anymore and moved them out. Now everything in my office relates to my business. This helps me feel more focused and my office is less sloppy.

What I’m currently working on

Outdated inspiration. My collages are about 2 years old now, and starting to feel a little stale. I’m planning to remedy that over the Christmas holiday, but I notice that they don’t inspire me the way they used to. They represent who I was, not where I’m going.

Dust. It’s right up there with vacuuming.

What do YOU do to put the sacred in your space?

What works really well for you? What are you working on?

Share your insights and ideas! Your comments on your own process are welcome. I also request kindly, firmly, that you not give advice to me or others unless it’s specifically requested. This makes exploring safe and learning possible for every reader.

You have stuff.

Maybe you hate the way the printer works. Or the snarl of cords that lurk under your desk. Maybe it’s the massive accumulation of half-finished projects. Or papers that may have been important once, but now fill you with dread.

Sometimes it feels like your stuff has you.

Because of the negative feelings you have about some of the items in your workspace, you begin to resists the entire space. The whole enchilada. You feel cramped, uncomfortable, and it’s hard to get anything done.

Over time, you start to develop a barely-tolerable relationship with your space.

Renegotiate your relationship

If you are in a relationship with a person who nourishes you, you actively care for that relationship and give it your time and attention. You give back what he or she gives to you. You grow closer and feel loved and supported.

It’s the same way with your belongings.

If something you own feels unsupportive or draggy, it’s healthy for you to manage it so that it doesn’t affect you negatively – or you can simply let it go.

You have a right to a workspace that feels clear and inspiring.

Find gratitude for your stuff

While you may feel enslaved by stuff, in reality, you are swimming in abundance. Every object around you is like a friend, waiting to assist you, help you, or inspire you.

Even negative-feeling items around you are your devoted, if imperfect, servants.

• That printer will print out anything you ask, at any time of day, in almost unlimited amounts. Could you possibly imagine asking a flesh-and-blood human to do the same?

• That pile of books, if overwhelming, are a collection of teachers gathered together to inform and advise you.

• The desk, though it looks out of control, it’s a sacred space dedicated to your work. This space helps you create, complete important projects, and is the altar from which your greatest gifts are offered.

What overflowing abundance you have, right in your very midst!

And your stuff will nourish you in return.

What thing in your space is most distracting to you right now? Take a moment to notice it.

It is serving you? What do you feel grateful for about this item?

Where would you like this item to go – so that you feel more clear and supported while you’re working? You might want to let it go entirely. You might want to put it somewhere out of sight. It’s up to you. Whatever you feel compelled to do, take that one action.

If you do this process, one object at a time, you will feel clearer, lighter and will have practiced a profound kind of self care.

And aren’t you worth it?

You might have wondered what on earth art is doing in the middle of a newsletter about organizing. Technically nothing. Nothing, that is, if your goal is to have nothing more than a meticulously, painfully spotless workspace.

If you want a workspace that inspires you, though, beauty is of tremendous creative and energetic value.

A good example of functional beauty

Since several readers asked, I’m coming clean about the about the blue rose wallpaper in my office mentioned in the last newsletter.

Really (no offense intended to my landlord), the stuff is horrid. The pattern is blue-on-blue clusters of roses that stagger up the wall in diagonal lines. The paper was hung so the rose bunch patterns don’t line up at the edges. When we first looked at the house I said, “That’s got to go.”

Chances are good that you have something like this in your house. A bad view, dark paneling, odd colors. Whatever it is, after a while it becomes invisible. Sort of.

“Making do”

Let’s not get into why I tolerate the wallpaper. We all have projects that don’t get done – me included.

Here’s the secret that helps me tolerate the crazy rose wallpaper: I have a lot of beauty around me.

Outside my window is a garden view. On the walls I’ve displayed inspirational collages that mean a lot to me and evoke good feelings when I look at them. There’s lots of natural light. One day, I’m even going to buy one of these to add a feeling of serenity and calm in my office (and I’ve told her so).

The beauty I’ve created in my space balances out the wallpaper. That’s the secret.

The other secret: clutter’s not always The Problem

I’ve done many 1-on-1 sessions with people who want to deal with clutter “once and for all” in their session. Instead, they end up excited to create beauty and inspiration around them. They find that even if clutter remains, the space they work in becomes more pleasant and enjoyable to work in.

Beauty might sound superficial. I used to think so myself. But when there’s beauty in your space, it balances out chaos and clutter. Beauty feeds the spirit and creates a container that nourishes your heart.

It’s in your budget

Most people resist creating beauty in their space because they assume it’s expensive. We assume it must look like a designer did it and is ready for the cover of House Beautiful. If you believe this, think again.

Beauty is by your definition alone. You are your own authority on what is beautiful to you. Not Martha F. Not your mother in law. Not Pottery Barn. Beauty is defined by what you love.

Love pink? Buy a gallon of paint for $18.Love flowers? Cut some from the yard.

Want inspiration? Post images you love on your walls or collect magazines and make inspiring collages. Many of the artists I feature offer prints of their work, making their beauty accessible to many.

Beauty doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive – it’s there to nourish you and make you feel loved.

And aren’t you worth it?

As I’ve said time and again, you matter. Your work matters. When you create a space that nourishes you, your creativity and productivity flow. You have more fun. You like going into your space to work.

If you’re still not convinced that beauty matters, remember that there are people in the world who are waiting for you to show up. People who need your special gift and the way that you share it.

Having a space that nourishes you (with its beauty and inspiration), gives you the energetic resources you need to reach the people (and organizations, animals, and planet) that need you most.

Beauty is fuel.

My plea/challenge

If time were no object, think for a moment about one thing you would do to bring beauty into your space.

It could be as simple as adding a cool, shimmering glass of water or as complex as ripping down all the wallpaper.

Just reflect for a moment about one thing that would nourish you.

And, in the next two weeks, commit to taking one step toward creating it. When you do, let me know. I’d love to know what happens.

“Ahhh, grasshoppah,” I replied. Organizing is like the seasons – there are messy phases and neat phases. Fruitful creative times and replenishment phases. Unrelenting productivity is unrealistic.

I started realizing that it’s really hard to get excited about organizing your office if you’re dog tired, burned out, and snarky. And I took this to heart and made the following three discoveries:

Replenishment must come first.

The belief that soul-sustaining activities are optional is a blind spot for many people – and a painful one. Take a moment and ask yourself – what have I been putting off that I deeply need?

A participant in my Inspired Organizing class had a huge epiphany last week when she realized that painting isn’t optional for her. Painting is the breath of her life – and nothing is more fulfilling than creating beauty with her canvas and paints.

And yet, she put it on hold. For long stretches of time.

Does this sound familiar? You, me – we all think that we can only do the thing that deeply nourishes us once (and only after) we get our “have-tos” done.

Soul-sustaining activity gives you the courage and energy to do what you think you cannot.

If you start with an empty watering can, what do you have to offer the garden? If you wake each morning with a dreaded to-do list, how will you find the way internal resources to complete it all? And if you force your way through day after day, how do you feel?

Doing activities that nourish you – on a regular basis – isn’t self indulgent. It’s a critical component of a healthy life. And no one can grant permission for this but you.

Putting your soul first means you can to take on your latest project renewed and recharged. It means that you can conquer things that plague you with energy and courage. Your Interactions with people you care about are warmer and more real. This self-knowledge can change your life.

Listen for what you already know.

Listening to – and trusting – what your heart needs is the best way to replenish your soul on a day to day, moment to moment basis. The answers you need are already inside you, waiting.

When my buddy Linda said she could meet me for lunch, but I’d have to wait an additional hour before we could meet up, I could feel my chest tighten with stress.

But then I asked myself what the most nourishing choice would be. I listened to my heart instead of my fear… and chose to meet her for a delightful late lunch. Not surprisingly, it was exactly what I needed. I left feeling seen, loved, and replenished.

In other words…

Organizing is a process that takes time. Caring for yourself along the way means that you will be able to sustain your resolve until it’s really working for you.

Now. What have you been waiting to do that will fill you up?

A few years after Martha Stewart became a star (before the prison gig), she could be seen on television in her immaculate maison, wrapping perfect presents with satin ribbon and decorating sugar cookies with all the flair of Degas.

I don’t know how the family joke got started, but my mom took to referring to the Connecticut queen as “Martha F. Stewart.” Not to offend, but you can probably guess what the middle initial stood for.

Credit is due to Ms. Stewart for helping America reconnect with its neglected homes and discover that we could feather our nests and curl up into them. However, her inimitable style upped the ante for America’s working moms, in particular, and brought on a good case of resentment and guilt.

I think that was what my mom was getting at.

Is Martha in your office?

I was talking with a client the other day who’s been battling habitual clutter and winning. But when she mentioned that a small pile had developed on her desk, I could hear her voice get smaller and her energy shrank.

When I probed, she realized that her expectation of a clutter-free, functioning office was that it had to have nothing, nothing in it. Gleaming, ready for the photo shoot. Martha F. Stewart.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is, your office has to work for you, not the other way around. Your office is the place where you work – and work, by nature, is messy.

If you are in the middle of a project, it’s only natural that you have on hand the supplies you need to complete it. It might look like a mess, but that’s okay.

Something more like reality

I like Erma Bombeck. If you haven’t read any of her books, I highly recommend that you pick one up. Any of them. She used her wicked sense of humor to make poignant observations about motherhood, marriage, lost socks, and life in general.

Her philosophy, or so it seems to me, is that life is full and messy and you’d better find the funny in it so you can make it through. She made a point not to sweat the small stuff.

She’s more my kinda gal because her attitude parallels my own approach to office organization and design. If your space is functioning for you and your business, great. You can always tweak what isn’t working, but don’t chase after perfection. It will just make you tired.

Instead, find the love in your work, the fun in it, and make sure your space is functional enough to do it well. There’s time enough for Martha F later.

Things to try

1. Inspiration

You probably surround yourself with talismans and images without stopping to notice them very often. Look around your office and locate things that are beautiful and inspiring to you.

Take a moment to really soak in the energy and inspiration that they bring you.

2. Significance

Find something in your space that anyone else might think ugly or messy, but is significant to you.

Maybe you have a project going that is your Next Big Thing. Congratulate yourself on having the vision to bring it to fruition (even if you haven’t touched it in a while).

Or, if you have some object or collection that reminds you of a special person or event in your life, pause to reconnect with that meaningful memory. These are the deep roots that give us courage to fly.

3. Gratitude

Your workspace is a sacred container for your business. Take a deep, cleansing breath – and thank your office for supporting you.

Soak in the significance of having the space and tools together so that your business may thrive and help others.

By noticing the beauty and purpose of your office and its contents, you are nourishing and giving yourself the strength to carry on. What beautiful gifts you, in turn, can to give the world.