Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess. When she grew up, her father started looking for a groom for her. Soon the word spread and a young handsome lad who was famous for his bravery won her heart and hand. They got married and the lad started living in the palace. His wife gave him the keys to all the rooms in the palace and said, ‘Darling, you can open any room you like. But, if you want me by your side, please do not open the room with the heavy iron door.’ The lad agreed. However, when he saw the room with the great iron door, he could not resist. He opened it and stepped inside. He saw a fearsome demon who laughed at his naivety and said, ‘Now, your wife will be mine!’ The demon carried the princess away and the lad went after them. After a lot of fight, he finally managed to kill the demon with the help of his wife. They came back to the palace and opened all the rooms of the palace. They slayed the demons and lived happily ever after.

There is room in my house. I usually keep the door closed because my dogs like to sneak into it and chew anything that they find interesting enough. The room has a balcony but we do not use it often. Everything that I don’t like or I feel is not required goes into that room. Sometimes, things that I don’t understand also go into this room because I always think that I may need them later.

My daughter wants this room for her own. She wants to create her own space in this room and design it her way. She keeps telling me her plans and I just keep nodding my head. I don’t agree or disagree with anything my teenager says. But thankfully, my room does not have too many things at least as compared to my mother’s room of everything.

This is not because I am a very good organizer or I like to throw clutter every now and then. In fact far from it. Instead, the reason my room is still manageable is because I have a maid who helps me to get rid of things that I don’t need. Though she dusts the house quite well, she does not like to dust most things in that room because she feels that its a waste of her effort. However, she knows that the room has to be kept clean and tidy. So, she keeps telling me to throw this or give that when she dusts the room. I cannot refute her logic or arguments because they are mostly valid. Yet, I cannot bring myself to throw most of the things in that room. So, we have devised a little charade to trick my mind. I pack up the things that I want to get rid of and put them away. If I don’t need them or remember them in the entire month, I give them away. However, I still cannot bring my self to throw away most of the things. But, I am thankful for my maid who does not let the clutter pile up into an unmanageable mess! My mother on the other hand does not let any one get into that room. The last time I sneaked into that room, I saw a huge looming mountain of clutter.

I wish the closed rooms of our heart and mind could also be cleaned or managed as easily. The rooms where we hide all our hurts, unresolved emotions, destructive patterns and even demons mostly remain locked. We hide them with fancy doors and curtains and don’t even acknowledge their presence. The problem is that unlike this world, there, in those depths of our being, there is no one to help us understand what to keep and what to throw.

We must do the spring cleaning ourselves and that is perhaps the most difficult feat of all!

Thoughts!

Old and dusty, cobwebs abound,

The lost memories of old marriages, hurts and resentments can be found.

The happy honeymoon and the sadness that it left behind,

Still sometimes creep into the heart and mind.

There must be a drainex or harpic to flush these memories away,

For they block all the light in the room and leave a shadow gloomy and grey.

Do you have a room like this in your house or heart? How do you manage it? Does it scare you? Do share your story with us!