Spring Cleaning for the Soul: Letting Go of Emotional Clutter
Mar 20, 2025
We have once again reached spring. Mother Nature is shaking off the cold snow to welcome the warmth of spring. Leaves are sprouting, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the clouds are parting to reveal the wide blue sky. Spring is a time of growth and renewal; the perfect time to deep clean, declutter, and start anew.
You might sweep out the garage or organize the pantry. Maybe you’ll donate some old clothes or remodel the kitchen. All of those are great ways to prepare yourself for new growth, but cleaning doesn’t have to be limited to your physical space. Spring is also a great time to sweep, organize, and declutter your soul.
Life is quite the rollercoaster, and when we hit those painful dips in the track, it can be difficult to let go of those emotions. Sometimes people aren’t aware that it’s even possible to let the painful emotions go, so they ball them up and drop them in their pockets.
“I Thought We Had to Carry the Pain With Us.”
Recently, I organized a hike up Mount Timpanogos. I called it The Summit on the Summit. Along the way, I told the group to pick up rocks proportional to the amount of emotional pain they were holding inside. Some reached down to grab baseball-sized stones and others searched around for something closer to watermelons. One man picked one that was 15 or 20 pounds. After everyone in the group had found a suitable rock to symbolize their pain, I passed out a big industrial Sharpie and instructed them to write what they were feeling on the rocks.
I never told them to keep the rock, but instinctively, every single one of them put it in their backpack. We continued hiking for hours. We had almost made it to the summit when I brought it up again.
I asked the group, “Where did you put your pain?" The response was that they "shoved it inside" their backpack. When I asked the group, "Why did you put that pain in your backpack?”
They unanimously answered, “I thought we had to carry it with us.” They had carried their pain with them throughout the entire journey. They felt the weight of this heavy burden with every step up the mountain.
The truth is, no one ever told the group to carry the rocks with them. I asked them to pull out their pain. They dug into their bags and pulled out the rocks. Then we had a releasing exercise of standing on a cliff, taking the rocks out of backpacks, telling our pain, “I see you and I honor you for the purpose you have served.”, and then said goodbye as we flung our pain off the ledge.
Pain is Not Meant to Be Held. Let Go.
When my childhood cat (her name was Puffy) died, my mom wrapped me in her arms and said, “Cry, and cry and cry and cry. And when there are no more tears, dry your eyes and thank God for the love that you have for Puffy.”
Don't ignore your pain. Let it flow through you. Feel it, feel it deeply. And then, let it go and replace that space with gratitude.
It’s time to clean your backpack so you no longer have to carry this weight with you.
Visit our emotion school to start living more authentically.
