Keeping It Clean
This past weekend I spent a couple of hours pressure washing our driveway. It’s a chore that I really don’t mind because it’s easy and satisfying to see the results so quickly. What made it especially easy the past couple of years is the addition of a neat contraption on the end of the washer wand that allows me to clean a larger area than just the small area the original attachment covers. Without boring you with all the details, basically it allows me to clean the driveway in about 1/3 of the time it took previously.
So anyway, while I was cleaning the driveway this past weekend, I got to thinking about how pressure washing was like the therapy process. My driveway accumulates dirt and stains and paint splotches– all sorts of things over the course of a year. Do I have to clean it every year? No. But how does it look when I don’t? How does it look when I let a few years go by between cleanings? It gets pretty messy looking.
Just like us. Think about your own life and the struggles you have. What happens when you let things slide for awhile? Or when you tolerate relationships or behaviors that aren’t healthy for too long? Or when you simply stay stuck in bad habits or unproductive life patterns? Your life gets messy. Maybe you end up feeling depressed, anxious, cranky, angry– you fill in the blank. The bottom line is that all that messy stuff makes it difficult for us to live healthy, happy, productive lives.
Where does therapy come into the picture? It’s like pressure washing. Therapy is the place where you can sort through those thoughts and feelings and behaviors and relationships. It’s the place where you can ‘clean up’ the messy stuff that holds you back.
How messy things are determines how much therapy you need. Maybe it’s like my driveway, and a cleaning every year keeps things manageable. Maybe it’s been a long time since you did any cleaning, and you’ll have to spend more time to get things tidied up.
It’s not necessarily easy or fast work (unlike cleaning my driveway that takes just 2 hours), but it’s necessary for living a full and rich life. And when you’ve done the work, you can look back over it and feel satisfied at how things have changed for the better.
If you’d be interested in knowing how music therapy and imagery could help in your ‘cleaning’ process, I’d be happy to share more. Feel free to send me a quick message, and we can see how it might help you.
