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Contagious Victories is a community for individuals to share positive perspectives, artistic endeavors and miraculous moments with others. Whether it is through storytelling, art, music or word, the members of Contagious Victories create space for vulnerability and act as an audience for support in creative works. We all have something to courageously celebrate- and even small victories are contagious!
Welcome to the Contagious Victory's podcast. Each week, we talk inspiration, explore possibilities, and share insights from creative perspectives. I'm Tori Blackmon, and I'm here to remind you that your purpose in life is to celebrate the victories because victories are contagious. Are you a creative soul looking for inspiration? If so, I invite you to my own personal corner of the internet, once upon a tori.com.
Victoria B. Glass:It's your one stop destination for unforgettable travel adventures and top notch social media tips to help you shine online. Once upon a tori.com. That's once upon a tori.com. I'll see you there. Hello, everybody.
Victoria B. Glass:And thank you for tuning in to the Contagious Victories podcast, a podcast for creative Christians who need a little bit of good news in their weekly routine. I've noticed lately that people are being a little more cautious and careful to who and what they are listening to and the content that they are consuming and just overall what they are surrounding themselves with, myself included. So I just wanna be upfront and honest that the why behind this podcast is to uplift, encourage, inspire, and overall just bring you courage and victory to your weekly routine. At the time of this recording, it is the 1st week of March, and spring is in the air. This morning, when I was on my walk, I noticed a lot of flowers blooming and green shrubbery and bushes that are starting to fill back out again.
Victoria B. Glass:And I'm sure that we can all agree that spring is a lovely, lovely time. Maybe some of us, you know, like it more than others depending on our allergies, but, overall, spring is just a lot more free and open, and we love spring. So sometimes spring, though, can come with a little bit of overwhelm. Maybe you get the little bug to dive into some spring cleaning, and that can be a little bit overwhelming. So today, we're gonna be talking about how to reduce that overwhelm and feel organized and on track with a few simple tips that are gonna keep us from becoming a stressed out mess this spring season.
Victoria B. Glass:We want to, you know, do the opposite of stressful around here at Contagious Victories. We like to stay very clear and very present, and we can't do that if we're being stressed out. So how are we going to stay the opposite of stressful this spring? Well, I have some tips for you coming right up, so don't go anywhere. Today, we're talking spring cleaning and how to free up our mind space, our actual space, and our digital space so that we can spend our precious time avoiding stressful overwhelm and doing the things that we absolutely love to do.
Victoria B. Glass:Are you ready to spring clean? Let's kick it off with a few housekeeping tips on how to clean up our actual space. In her book, "Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean", Linda Cobb provides fantastic, fast, and foolproof tips for cleaning the house in a flash. Now I'm not gonna talk about a bunch of house cleaning tips. That's not what we're getting into today.
Victoria B. Glass:But I do know that as creatives, we tend to use a lot of technology. So I thought that I would share a few of her tips on how to clean and disinfect our technology. Let's start with our cell phones. Now I bet this is one you haven't ever heard of. Apply Listerine mouthwash with a soft cotton pad or rag.
Victoria B. Glass:Don't rinse it off. Just let it sit for a second, and it will disinfect your cell phone. This is great advice to use for your offices too if you have telephone receivers in your office, especially during the spring right now when our allergies are picking up because of pollen and stuff. So remember, just apply a little Listerine, and that's a little life hack on how you can keep your telephones and cell phones clean this spring. When it comes to computers, you can dust between the keys of your keyboard with a little cotton swab or a vacuum cleaner with a dust brush on your vacuum.
Victoria B. Glass:A natural solution to cleaning your keyboard is to mix 1 part water and 1 part alcohol, and then apply it to a little cotton swab, and just get in between the nooks and crannies of your keyboard. That's like a good little life hack, especially if you don't have one of the little plastic keyboard covers. Chances are there's some dust or some little crumbs in between there, and you don't want that getting in the way of your workspace. Now always remember to unplug your electronic equipment before you clean it. That's a big one that you wanna make sure you remember.
Victoria B. Glass:Be sure not to overwet the cotton swab. You don't want it to get too wet in there. Another thing that I learned from Linda Cobb's book, "Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean", is that most people associate clean with what they smell. And now that I think about it, yeah, I definitely want everything to smell clean. You can make your own air freshener using 1 cup of baking soda, a half a cup of clear ammonia, and 1 tablespoon of any scented oil or extracts that you like.
Victoria B. Glass:I love using my doTERRA oils, and the other day, I used my abode scent. And Dylan walked in the room, and he said that it smelled so fresh in there and that it smelled like home. Whatever home would smell like is what he said, which I thought was really cute. So if you're interested in the doTERRA essential oil products, I'll link it in the show notes, but that's what I would be using to make this at home air freshener. You would slowly add all of those ingredients along with 16 cups of warm water to a gallon jug, shake it really, really well, and put it in a spray container, and mist it in the air whenever you need it.
Victoria B. Glass:You can also store it into a gallon jug and make sure that you label it so that you can use it whenever you need to refill your spray bottle. What a great little spring cleaning tip. Whenever I make my own air freshener, I'm gonna post about it on my Instagram stories. So be sure to follow me on Instagram at once upon a_tori so you can check out that little adventure whenever that happens. Now that our space is feeling and smelling fresh, it's time to tidy up our digital sphere.
Victoria B. Glass:This is not a single one and done task, so be sure to schedule some space to do this. In my own personal experience, I learned that a digital tidy up took, like, a few days. So be prepared to schedule an afternoon to just, you know, get down to it. The first step I'm gonna recommend you do is to head over to your email inbox. Now if you are a normal person, you probably have an email or 2 that is unread waiting for you to read in your inbox.
Victoria B. Glass:Maybe 10 or 20 if you have multiple inboxes. Anything over that needs attention, and that is what this time is for. Once you take care of the inbox, clear out any unsent messages that are still hanging out in your drafts folder, along with anything that might be starred or saved that is no longer relevant. After we clean up the email folders, the next task is to unsubscribe from mailing lists that we no longer want emails from. You know that apparel company that you bought one t shirt from who now reaches out to you more than your biological family members?
Victoria B. Glass:Gut check and unsubscribe. This is how we clear out space for new people to reach us by way of our email inbox. The last thing that I recommend you do this spring that will certainly make your life easier as a creative person is to gather up all of your passwords and put them in one notebook. Of course, I don't recommend that you label this notebook secret passwords keep out. But, you know, you have them all in one place so that they aren't stored on our devices, but they are kept safe for us to refer back to when we need them in the future.
Victoria B. Glass:The key here is to develop a routine of writing down our new passwords and login information when we create new accounts. If we can get into a pattern of this right now in March, early on in the year, can you just imagine how much time and hassle that this is gonna save us throughout the rest of the year? Just go ahead and just do it. Okay? I promise you from, like, my own personal experience, getting more organized with all of your passwords and account information will save you so much time and brain space.
Victoria B. Glass:Speaking of brain space, I have a few more spring cleaning tips for you, and my next set of recommendations has to do with mental health. So we're gonna discuss that in just a second. Alright. So the final spring cleaning thing that we are going to talk about today is how to free up our mental space. Now I am a big doer, always doing something, but I also know that we are called to rest as well.
Victoria B. Glass:We have to have mental space, and there will be days when our minds are full to the max. But, you know, Mark 6:31 tells us, He said unto them, come ye yourselves apart and rest a while. It's understandable to always want to be included in something big and exciting, but He calls us back, back to the simplicity of the faith, back to Jesus Christ and His unchanging person. God created us in his image. When we trust in him and put it in his hands, we really can have courage and clear our minds and our hearts of any kind of fear.
Victoria B. Glass:He is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. God is ever living and never changing, and when we focus on him, it really does free up our mental space. So my genuine advice in those moments of high stress when our mental capacity has reached its absolute fullest is give it to Him. Focus on uplifting scriptures, listen to some good worship music.
Victoria B. Glass:Remember you are amazing, you are capable, you were chosen, you were created, you are always loved. You were enough. You're strong. You're never alone, and you are victorious. Remember to be cautious and careful of what you're filling up your cup with, and I bet that you'll have clarity all spring season long.
Victoria B. Glass:Let's keep showing up, following through, and staying accountable to each other so that we can remain organized and on track for all of 2024. Thank you so much for listening to the Contagious Victories podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to Contagious Victories. Thank you for tuning in today, and I'll catch you over in the Contagious Victories Community on Facebook. If you haven't joined us over there, we would love to have you.
Victoria B. Glass:I'll talk to you later. Bye. Thanks for joining us for this week's episode of the Contagious Victories podcast. If the show inspired you to hear your own victory story, I'm here to tell you the world deserves to hear it. Submit it to me online at ToriBlackmon.com
Victoria B. Glass:Review and subscribe if that feels right. Telling your friend about the show helps contain his victories to grow. Plus, we all appreciate a little sunshine. I'm Tori B. Thanks for listening.
Victoria B. Glass:I'll catch you soon.