All About Garbage Day

I have strong feelings about Garbage Day. We use it as a physical reset in my household. We clear out the trash, empty out the fridge, generally refresh the space and get out what is gross or just no longer useful. 

Over the past year, I have adopted Garbage Day as a day to clear out my head as well. Chronic and mental illness have made a mess of things up there in my head. It is full of false narratives, ruminating thoughts, negative self talk, made up scenarios, and other mental, spiritual, and emotional trash. I have gotten into the habit of taking a few minutes every Wednesday, which is Garbage Day in my house, to take some of this trash out and throw it away. 

Let me walk you through my process. First I pick a topic. Today, I am throwing away a little of my self blame. I take a few minutes to calm my mind and then think of the self blame I have put on myself in the past. Start small. You can work up to the heavy stuff. I might think of how I blame myself for not being able to do the housework to my past self standard. Once I have that thought, I physically reach up to my temple and imagine pulling that thought out of my head like a string, then I mime throwing it into the trash. You might feel silly, but it is, for me, a powerful symbol of removing that thought from my mind. Once you really get into the habit, it will get easier. Repeat with a new thought. Next I might get rid of the thought of blaming myself for other people's bad mood or blaming myself for a financial issue. I usually go for at least 3 for this. I then wash my hands and move on to something else. That trash then gets taken out to the curb and carried away by the garbage truck.

Then comes the hard part. When those thoughts come up again, you stop yourself as it creeps in and remind yourself you threw that thought away. You can't give it energy. Try to nip the rumination in the bud. Use your Garbage Day practice as a reminder to lessen those negative thoughts. Pull it out and throw it away again if necessary. The key is once you throw it out, you try your best to not allow yourself to indulge in that negative thought. Garbage Day is a constant reminder to free up your mind from the negative thoughts and feelings taking up valuable space in there. It is a simple but powerful act to give yourself a chance to make room for more positive thoughts and feelings.

Here on the blog, I will post every Wednesday about Garbage Day and how I am clearing out my mental and emotional trash. I hope it will be an inspiration to you to develop your own Garbage Day habit.