There is a happy place in my house, well one of the very happiest of places in my house. It is my closet. I love my clothes and all, but that’s not why it’s one of the happiest places. It is one of my happiest places because all of my dress shirts are in ROYGBIV order. For those of you who do not know what I am referring to, and a few of my friends did say this much to my shock, ROYGBIV is the acronym for how the colors of the rainbow show up in nature. (Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet). I have arranged all my shirts and on a separate rack, all of my ties, in that order. And when I look at it, I breathe deeply and feel as though there is some order to the world as a whole. When I get dressed in the morning, it is like looking into my own paint palette of colors, just waiting for me to mix up some combination that will be bright, colorful and joyful. It is a great way to start each day.

I have recently realized that I need to ROYGBIV a bunch of things in my life and what I mean by that is create order and structure where there easily could be none.

I have recently realized that I need to ROYGBIV a bunch of things in my life and what I mean by that is create order and structure where there easily could be none. In some ways, I resist structure. I want every day to be different and fun and even though I know I function better with structure, I think-”WHO NEEDS IT? That’s for boring people!” No, it is not for boring people, it is for people who want to create peace and order so that they can be happier and be able to show up for life better. In this most recent instance, it means structuring my mornings and my evenings. I like the idea of getting up at a different time each day and sleeping in on the weekends, but it doesn’t yield me peace. Just as the teenage me had clothes thrown around my room and on the floor, it just didn’t work. The same way my organized closet brings me peace now and makes it SOO much easier to get dressed in the morning, I need to give myself that same structure in the way I take care of myself when I wake and before I go to bed.

So I am going public with this. Every morning, the first thing I am doing now is being still, breathing and meditating. At the end of the day, the same thing. I also am making sure there is a time to write, between 15-30 minutes each day. There is also a time to read for at least 10 minutes before, I meditate before sleep. I am getting up at the same time each day and going to bed at the same time each night. This experiment, which many have proven works, I will test to see if I yield a more peaceful me. Just as looking in my closet brings me joy, I will see if this structure brings my heart peace to be ready for all of the wonderful things my life has waiting for me each day. I can almost hear my mom yelling “Clean your room already” and this time I am answering back “Gladly mom,! I am! And thank you for caring!”