My closet is beautiful. It is clean, organized, and perfect. The floors of my closet are vacuumed. My shoes rest neatly in shoe pockets. My purses are lined up in pristine rows. If there were a comfy chair, I’d be sitting in there to write this article.

Unfortunately, my bedroom floor now contains all the junk that was in my closet before I cleaned it out today. I already hauled out several bags of out-of-date clothing, scuffed-up shoes, and seldom-used purses. Still, there’s all this stuff. Where did it come from? Why have I held onto it this long? And, most importantly, what am I gonna do with it now that I’ve uncovered it? (Heavy sigh.) Oh, well. One thing at a time, right?

There’s my high school letterman sweater. (Drill team. Choir patches on the sleeves.) There’s the red dress I wore in my early twenties. There are the numerous, slightly-too-small outfits that I refuse to part with, as incentive to lose the extra poundage that has crept up in the last few years. In the corner rests an exercise ball, two briefcases, a pair of swim shoes, a curly pony-tail clip thingie that I bought in a weak moment of stupidity, and about a half dozen tote bags.

I never use this stuff. I’m just hanging onto it for no apparent reason. (Okay, I’m hanging onto it because I’m a sentimental sap.) But the prime real estate in my closet is valuable. I really shouldn’t be using it as a junkyard, no matter how nostalgic the junk is. It just takes up space and clutters my view.

You know, I think I do that with my brain space, too. I hang onto stuff I have no use for, and it just weighs me down and clutters my view. Like the time the girl in my second grade class framed me, set me up and told a lie about me. I have never forgiven her. And then there’s that two-timing weasel in college who . . . well, you get the idea. Why can’t I let those things go? They’ve been over and done with for decades. Why can’t I just forgive and forget, toss out those memories, and free up some valuable space in my noggin?

Maybe it’s because it’s more of a hassle to clean it all out and let it all go than to just hang onto it. After all, look at my bedroom floor. It’s no fun stepping over all these little piles of stuff. So, I’ve just been cramming it into my closet, which has become more and more jammed, making that little room a nightmare instead of the dreamy place it is now.

Closets are Like Our Brains – Isn’t It Time to Declutter?

But my mind should be a palace, a place where beautiful thoughts and valuable memories are stored. It should not be a junkyard, filled with unforgiveness and angry memories. It may not be wise to pull out all my mental junk at once, but maybe I could work on getting rid of a little bit at a time? Perhaps I’ll try to let go of some things that are no longer useful to me. To the best of my ability, I will forgive and forget. I will let some things go. Both in my closet and in my brain.

Start with Scripture

If I’m going to get organized on my brain, I have to do what I do with my closet. I need to start small and take things out little by little. Perhaps, just this month, I will start not only with saying goodbye to past hurts, but making sure they stay gone with some scripture. How will I do it? One verse at a time. This one seems like a good place to start: 

Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another – Colossians 3:13.

With a more balanced brain, thanks be to God, I can work on the monumental task of finishing the Grand Closet Clean up of 2014. As for the hairy pony-tail clip thingie, however, I think I’ll keep that. You never know when a little extra fluff and curl might come in handy.