It’s at this time of the year when we might consider spring cleaning our homes, as the mould of winter assumes an even more alarmingly obvious presence when bathed in pre-Summer sun. Deep cleaning with white vinegar, the removal of abandoned cobwebs, and frenzied preparatory work in the garden, in anticipation of brighter and longer days, can all bring renewed hope and optimism on the home front.
But can the spirit of renewal and rejuvenation also be applied to our minds and our attitudes at this wonderful time of year, when the light of life seems brighter, and lasts longer into the evenings of our days here in Portugal? Can that same sense of ship-shaped-ness in our homes, should we make the effort, offer enlightenment and uplift to the mind and spirit too, if those inner nooks and crannies are treated to a deep-clean and reset?
My correspondent today seems to think so – a woman originally from Germany, now in Portugal, and captivated by China from an early age. She is Marion Geray, and offers spring cleaning for the mind, as well as many other balms and boosts for mind, body and soul, most often in the glory of the Portuguese countryside, trading as Walksperia.
We explored the transferable metaphor of getting our house in order just recently, not long after Marion had returned from a refresher with her Qigong master. Having “spent many years in China, becoming familiar with its people, culture, nature and, indeed, its idiosyncrasies,” this student of Eastern wellbeing practices is ready to share the techniques with the rest of us in Europe.
If the old saying “tidy desk, tidy mind” is true, then there must be something in what is being proposed here, I thought, as Marion began to explain her theory on a recent Good Morning Portugal! show. Incidentally, I have only just become grown up enough to have a proper bin in my kitchen AND bathrooms, as well as reserve supplies of washing up liquid and toilet rolls. So I think I might, at last, be ready for this next step, and the benefits it might bring to what Abraham Maslow calls my ‘self-actualisation’.
Marion’s vehicle for the psychological spring-cleaning process she espouses is a time-honoured, coaching go-to, the ‘wheel of life’, with its distinct areas of life and living analysis, namely, in alphabetical (not importance) order: Friends & Family, Significant Other/Romance, Personal Growth, Fun & Recreation, Physical Environment, Career, Money, and Health.
In each of these broad lifestyle segments, anyone wishing to take a look at how their life is going can mark themselves out of 10 to get a snapshot upon which discussion can be had, and areas for improvement identified.
“Everybody has different areas they have to take care of,” explains Marion. “It can be career. It can be personal growth. It can be health. It can be finance. My eight are different to yours.
“It’s springtime, which gives us a chance to be aware and check what nature is doing. I’m always reconnecting to nature,” she added. “Everything is growing. So the question is: What do I want to continue in my life for the year? And what do I want to stop?”
As far as the physical environment is concerned, Marion suggests that we in Portugal, or those about to move here, are at quite an advantage, probably a ‘10’, in other words, the highest score possible. In other areas, however, as a coach, she may have clients reporting only a four in their love life, perhaps from someone who has been married for a long time, living a busy life with children.
It’s at this point the spring-cleaning life coach, armed with her life-enhancing mental feather duster, recognises that life can, and does indeed go on, but that an intervention can also take place.
“The question is, are you willing? This is coaching and coaching means changing. This means working,” says Marion, in her no-nonsense German way, which has been turbo-charged with Chinese esoteric insight.
“The wheel of life is something you work on, so you have to be open to it. And to say ‘okay, not only do I have fun and good food here, and have a nice apartment, and lots of sunshine. But is there more?’ This is what I’m always asking expats who have moved here,” she calmly and clearly states.
This is where it seems Marion throws down the gauntlet, or perhaps in this metaphorical scenario the rubber glove, with the growing number of challenged yet satisfied clients who work with her one-to-one, and in groups hosted and hiking in the most idyllic and conducive of Portuguese backdrops.
It sounds to me, as I discover more about her intentions and methods, that this woman is the perfect antidote for the ‘what now?’ condition that I have outlined before here. That situation where newcomers, a year or so into their new life in Portugal, are post-peak-nata, acclimated to an easy-going life, in the most pleasant of circumstances, with the euphoria they once experienced, their new normal.
Alternatively, Marion outlines another predicament that she encounters and can help with. “You know, Carl,” she says to me in her straightforward way, “we have so many people, when the kids move out, looking at their partners and saying ‘how could this happen?’”
“No, really, I’m actually not kidding,” she quickly adds, seeing the shock on my face. “We did 25 years, have a great marriage, and have lovely children. We have some money. We moved to Portugal.” If Marion is your mentor, the next frank and potentially life-enhancing question is: “Is this what you are happy with?”
Marion went on, reflecting on the phrase ‘never change your winning team’, which on the pitch or playing field makes great sense. But when you move, the playing field literally changes and the old team comes under new pressures, and has a chance to reevaluate its performance and aspirations.
However and wherever your wheel of life is turning in Portugal, I really get the feeling Marion wants the absolute best for you. A firm advocate of life-long learning herself, she wants you to grow too, wherever you are in life. And as a friend of mine, the Good Morning Portugal! GuMPers, and readers of this column, she’ll give you a complimentary first ‘dust-down’ session, where you can mark the principal areas of life out of 10, and perhaps join her for the hike of a lifetime, both inner and outer, as you plan your best life in Portugal.
You can find out more about spring cleaning your life and Marion’s work here – www.walksperia.com
Carl Munson is host of the Good Morning Portugal! show every weekday on YouTube and creator of www.learnaboutportugal.com, where you can learn something new about Portugal every day!
