Although it’s still winter, I’ve been doing spring cleaning since the start of the year. This “out with the old, in with the new” phase has affected every part of my life, and I am really invigorated by it. It’s wonderful how closing the door on something can open new possibilities.

On a personal level, my house is going through a transformation. I began with the downstairs. I’ve taken it room by room, so it doesn’t seem overwhelming. I have thrown out so many things and tackled “hot spots” where various unrelated items seem to accumulate (most of which should rightly go into the trash, but don’t make it that far). Anything that could even remotely be called clutter has left the building. I’ve replaced curtains, added furniture, tossed or moved furniture, fixed things that have needed to be fixed for far too long, etc. I’m not talking about expensive changes. More like the kind of low-cost changes made for “staging” purposes. The family room and living room are done, and the transformation within our family has been amazing. We all love hanging out in these “new” spaces more than ever. We kind of fell into a rut where we stopped seeing the details and no longer contemplated change. Does the sofa have to be there? Wouldn’t it be fun to have it over here?

I’m doing something similar in my professional life. I saw a lot of triumphs and successes in 2009, but it was also the toughest year I’ve had in my career. It’s only recently that I have come to appreciate the value of my experiences, as miserable as some of them were. I am a bit wiser, more circumspect, and more grateful for what I do have. I’m not sure I paid the dues I should have in the beginning; I am stronger for having paid some of them now.

So I’m doing some spring cleaning on the way I view and approach things. Just like with my house, even though the architecture hasn’t changed, my appreciation level has increased. I’m feeling good about a lot of things in my life right now, even though it’s been better, and that’s because of my investment in looking at things with fresh eyes. I wish I’d done all this clearing out sooner!

Oh, and I sent my latest proposal to my agent last week and I got a really excited phone call from her about it! That made my week. :)

On a somewhat lighter note, I thought you might enjoy this:

We went shopping for a new dryer on Saturday. We stopped by a few different places — Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. — before we went to Sears. I couldn’t believe the number of salespeople they had on the floor. The appliance center had at least a half-dozen people assigned to it. As “our” salesman was showing off the various features of the dryer we ended up taking home, I noticed something in his back pocket and had to snap a picture.

HQ Presents and Dryers

Yes, our 6+ feet, 250 lbs. salesman had a Harlequin Presents in his back pocket. I thought that was fabulous!

(Is anyone else watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz? Yum.)