Oberservations From Decluttering Childhood Arts: How a Strong Foundation Supports Well-Being

I've been looking through bins of old art and schoolwork saved long ago from my kids' childhood (it was easier to save everything, it appears!), and I've noticed how memories and emotions have come up for me. This part of organizing is often an obstacle to sorting and clearing our spaces, and I decided to set myself up to work in controlled bursts, and to allow and appreciate the memories and emotions as they arose.

Having an intentional approach has helped me as I make decisions about what to keep - what I value v. what they might someday appreciate (if only for a moment). I have had to consider how much space I am willing to devote to what I save, and how much they might be willing to take away or look through. I notice and adjust to these elements of process as I go.

A bigger takeaway has been, in revisiting them as children through their expressive arts, how much their art and writing gave them a way to process who they are, their world, and what they cared about. Art gave them a means to reflect and express on their experiences, to feel important, and to give meaning to ordinary daily life.

As adults, let's remember artistic expression as an important part of being human. Name the parts of your world, of your daily life. Call to mind the beings you love, and what brings you joy, and bring these joyful aspects into your life as much as you can.

This is all to build a healthy identity, a sense of who you are; and it is foundational to your well-being. Before judging, before outcomes, is the strange and wonderful fact of be-ing.