Get out your pens and notebooks, writing exercise ahead…

Creating a capsule wardrobe of well-curated thoughts patterns and emotional structures:

1. What are the thought patterns I want to encourage in my life?
   (eg: creativity, growth, inspiration, future-orientation, relationship-oriented, etc.)
   a.
   b.
   c.
   d.
   e.
2. What are the thought patterns that I would like to remove?
   (eg. worry, repetitive thoughts, guilt, etc.)
   a.
   b.
   c.
   d.
   e.
3. What are the emotional structures that I would like to embody?
   (eg. optimistic, open-minded, free-thinking, etc.)
   a.
   b.
   c.
   d.
   e.
4. What are the emotional structures that I want to discard?
   (eg. sadness, anger, fear..)
   a.
   b.
   c.
   d.
   e.

There. You have it. The capsule wardrobe for your mindbody and the extra items that need to be discarded.

Of course, unlike acquiring the perfect tshirt, thought patterns and emotional structures require personal focus and discipline before they will shift.

We respond to symbols. It is time to do a ritualistic discarding of the thought habits and emotional structures that are no longer desired or required. But you can’t just throw them out and leave a vacuum- who knows what might show up instead?

The new and desired patterns and structures need to be actively instilled or embedded through your own efforts. How to do this?

1. Change your habits in the physical world.
   It doesn’t really matter what habits you change, just as long as you change them. Some recommend changing your handwriting. Changing simple habits demonstrates to your subconscious that change is possible.
2. Create sensory links to the desired patterns and structures.
   Adding visual, olfactory, or auditory links that act to trigger the new positively-charged structures and patterns. This can be as simple as buying a new lipstick and saying “This is optimism.” Remind yourself of that every time you put it on.
3. Ritualistically “discard” the patterns and structures which you wish to be rid of. Design your own ritual. It could be as simple as lighting a candle, writing down the aspects that need to go on little scraps of paper, burning them, and washing the ashes down the sink. You could also do this just through visualization, but many people find real world rituals helpful.
4. Minute by minute through the upcoming day, monitor your bodymind for both the continued awareness of the desired emotions and thoughts, and the absence of the negative ones.
5. If unwanted emotions or thoughts show up again without an external trigger, get out your optimistic triggers (new lipstick, a particular song, a perfume) and re-immerse yourself in what they symbolize for you.
6. If unwanted emotions/thoughts show up due to an external trigger: deal with it proactively. Talk to a rational close friend.Describe the situation to your dog in great detail. Seek loving affirmation from the external world that allows you to focus again on the positive, and throw out the negative. Reperform the discarding ritual in your mind.
7. Harmonize: Every few months, update your mindbody capsule wardrobe. Look at it, assess, and decide to add or discard new items as fit.

Note from Brook: I recently went through- and am going through- this process in a big way for myself. I needed to discard several emotional structures and thought patterns, one of which is the sensation of “busyness.” This annoying and constricted structure needed to be replaced by “spaciousness.” I had to rearrange external life aspects as well as internal in order to achieve this end- by quite literally reducing the number of appointments and commitments to which I was obligated. It is hard to give up or put projects on pause, because they have tended to become part of our identity. But the resulting mindframe, “busyness” was not an identity I was willing to tolerate forever.

Additionally, as a creative worker, busyness constricts one’s ability to be truly productive. Read this excellent essay for more: Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule