Are the people in our lives here for a reason or just here for the season?
But have you ever thought of doing that with relationships?
But as social beings, we are literally wired to connect with others.
Lucas Ottone / Stocksy
This spring, you might want to give a shot to add some spring cleaning to your relationships.
What Does It Mean to Spring Clean Our Relationships?
If youre a parentespecially of multiple childrenyou likely understand all too wellhow physical clutter can build up.
What doesnt seem like a lot taken individually can start to compound.
Imagine you have a garbage bag full of stuff from your own room, says therapistMendi Baron, LCSW.
Then imagine that someone else comes and gives you their bag to carry.
Then a third person asks you to carry them, while a fourth tries to trip you.
Carrying all that emotional clutter can make it hard to breathe.
We need to erase the space to properly function in life.
Couples and sex therapistEmily Lambert LCSWsays she likes to think of a relationship with someone as a garden.
However, these types of inventories work on the macro level, too.
This framework can apply to individual relationships, too.
Sometimes when we spring clean our relationships, says psychiatristDr.
Timothy Jeider, there are some people who have to be tossed out completely.
It’s an energy suck."
I have too much on my plate.
Or, like the papers in the garage, these relationships may need a sturdier container to hold them.
They may need new or specificboundariesto keep the relationship in check, says Jeider.
Keep
This should hopefully be an easy one!
These are the keepers.
“By clearing the negative,” says Baron, “you immediately alleviate significantmental health stressors.”
McMains S, Kastner S.Interactions of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in human visual cortex.J Neurosci.
2020;119(6):1459-1477. doi:10.1037/pspp0000265
