Mery Vieira 4/27/25 Mery Vieira 4/27/25

Find Your Ikigai: Spring Cleaning for The Soul

Book: **Ikigai - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life** by *Hector Garcia and Francis Miralles*

Hello and Happy Spring,

If you haven’t already, check out the first blog in this series: Decluttering: Spring Cleaning with Intention

Spring is a season of renewal — not just for our homes, but for our hearts, minds, and lives.

After decluttering my space and realigning my priorities, I take time to sit with my goals, my present, and my vision for the future. I sit with my body, the voices in my head, and allow myself to feel all the feels and think all the thoughts.

When I allow true silence, the tears usually follow. That happened this week — I sat on my sofa and shed tears, real, deep, soul-stirring tears.

My body needed it.
My mind needed it.
My spirit needed it.

But why? I asked myself the following questions:

Was I on the right path?
Was I doing too much — and for the right reasons?
What was I truly striving for?
Was I truly calling my inner self forward or was I operating from a place of ego?
Was I seeking Divine Guidance? And… was I ready to receive it?

This is where Ikigai came in.

Ikigai (pronounced ee-kee-guy) is a beautiful Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being.” It’s the intersection where your passions, talents, values, and contributions to the world meet. It’s the quiet but powerful why behind everything you do — the reason you get up in the morning feeling alive and fulfilled.

Though I’ve done it before, I revisit my Ikigai each spring. This week, as part of my inner “cleansing,” I took myself through the process again — and it was deeply transformative.

Today, I want to share the steps with you, so you too can begin clearing away the mental noise and reconnecting with your path.

Step 1: Reflect Deeply

Ask yourself these four powerful questions:

What do I love? (What activities make me lose track of time?)
What am I good at? (What skills, talents, or gifts come naturally to me?)
What does the world need? (Where can I make a meaningful difference?)
What can I be paid for? (What passions or skills hold real-world value?)

Take your time. Journal your thoughts freely and without judgment. Your answers might seem scattered at first — trust the process.

Step 2: Look for Patterns

After your initial reflection, step back and notice the connections:

Are there threads linking what you love and what you're good at?
Do overlaps emerge between what excites you and what the world needs?
Can you imagine combining your passions and talents into something sustainable?

Your Ikigai lives in the overlap. It may not be obvious right away, but stay open — your path will begin to reveal itself.

Step 3: Clarify Your Core Themes

Distill your insights into 2–3 core themes or guiding pillars.

For me, they looked like this:

Empowering others to grow
Creating clarity through storytelling and strategy
Helping people align their inner truth with their outer expression

These themes helped me see not just what I can do, but what I’m called to do. This year, I’ve committed to continuing the release of what no longer serves me and deepening my alignment with what — and who — feels right.

Growth only happens in alignment.

Alignment with what, you ask?

For me, I call it God. Sometimes Universe. Sometimes Source. Sometimes simply Divine Guidance.

This isn't about religion or whether you believe in a spiritual entity. For me, it’s the belief that I’m not alone — that I belong to something greater, something interconnected with you, with everyone, with everything. And when I am aligned with that presence, I feel grounded. Affirmed. Trusting of the journey.

What are the deeper themes behind your passions and talents? Write them down.

Step 4: Define Your Ikigai Statement

Bring everything together into one clear, inspiring sentence.

It might sound like this:

"My Ikigai is to inspire and empower women to align with their highest potential through storytelling, strategy, and soul-centered growth."

Yours will be different — and that’s the beauty of it. Your Ikigai is as unique as your fingerprint.

Why Finding Your Ikigai Matters

When you live aligned with your Ikigai, life feels richer. Decisions become easier. You stop chasing things that aren't meant for you.

Ikigai isn't about overnight answers or grand gestures. It's about daily alignment — small, steady choices that honor who you are and why you're here.

But this simple exercise? It’s a powerful place to begin.

This spring, as you clear your home and mind, I invite you to clear your soul, too.

Find your Ikigai — and plant new seeds for a life of deeper meaning, joy, and purpose.

Because growing through it means not just surviving — but thriving. Not just doing — but being.

You deserve to live in full bloom.

Call to Action:
If you enjoyed this post and want more step-by-step reflections and prompts, stay tuned — I’ll be sharing a free Ikigai Reflection Guide soon!

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you:
Have you explored your Ikigai before? What small clues are leading you toward it now?
Drop me a message — your story might inspire my next post. Let’s have a conversation.

Let’s grow together.

With love and encouragement,
Mery

P.S. Click below for the Ikigai Reflection Guide

Ikigai Reflection Guide

About the Author
Mery Vieira is the founder of The LGLP Journal, a soft but strong space for healing, evolving, and stepping into your power. As a writer, brand strategist, and legacy builder, she shares honest reflections and practical tools to help women grow through life’s challenges and become the best version of themselves. Join the circle and connect on Instagram @theLGLPjournal

Mery Vieira 5/28/19 Mery Vieira 5/28/19

Decluttering: Spring Cleaning with Intention

Hello and Happy Spring.

April is the month I do my annual spring cleaning. I declutter my home, revisit my budget, and pause to evaluate my goals.

Most people do this in January, at the start of the year. And while I do it then too, it never feels natural. It feels forced—like an achievement list I’m checking off for external validation or rewards.

But Spring? Spring feels softer, and gentler on my spirit - like an invitation to dig deeper and awaken quiet parts of me that want to come forward.

It’s the season that calls me to clear out what no longer serves me—and to recalibrate every part of my life:

my finances
my career
my relationships
my health
my home
my mind and spirit

At 43, my life feels more complex. More urgent. More tender. Some days I feel like I’m on track. Other days, like I’m struggling to keep it together. That’s why I declutter everything in the Spring. It’s become my annual reset.

Why declutter?
I don’t know about you, but as the year goes by, I tend to keep things I don’t need, don’t use, and don’t even like. Slowly but surely, my closet accumulates a few items that I either only wore once or never wore at all. Did I buy it for a special occasion? Will I use it again? How did I feel when I wore it, and why haven’t I worn it again since? Do I want to keep it even if I don’t a see future for it? Should I give it to someone else who could make better use of it? Then, I do the same process of interrogative questioning across all the other areas of my house. And, thanks to Marie Kondo, I now have a special question to ask myself with each and every item: “does it spark joy?”

I also ask myself:

Where am I craving clarity?
What needs to be released to make space for a bold new future?

Yes, I said BOLD.

We are awakening to our highest selves, our deepest desires, and our boldest dreams. I have found that cleaning, clearing, and decluttering helps me release so much more than the items around me. Intentional decluttering can be a bold step in self-discovery, healing, and personal growth.

Many psychologists have studied the correlation between clutter and its link to trauma, and I can say with complete transparency that this rings true for me. If you would like to explore more on this topic, here is a great video to get you started: How Clutter Is Linked to Trauma - Taking the First Step to Understanding. We could also talk about clutter in terms of consumerism and culture, and if you’d like to go down that rabbit hole here’s a great documentary you can watch: Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things

As for transforming past pain into fuel - for developing focused plans, for starting creative passions, and for stepping into your purpose - decluttering offers an incredible exercise in emotional courage.

What once hurt us becomes fuel:

To set boundaries.
To be more discerning with our energy.
To choose who and what we align with as we reimagine our future.

We are becoming.

And no—it’s not too late. Not at this age. Not in this season.

We’re taking every lesson we’ve learned and growing stronger, wiser, and more determined to live our most expansive life.

We’re becoming our truest selves—day by day, one step at a time.

And what I have found works for me, every year as I set my intention for my continued personal growth and development - is to clear the clutter.

I encourage you to boldly step into your closets, your cabinets, and the corners of your heart and mind that need clarity.

Here’s a secret I discovered: if an item makes me cry - it’s a GOOD thing. I sit with it. I allow the associations of that item to flow through me, and I give myself permission to feel all the feels. I did this when I sat on my closet floor crying over a dress that reminded me of an ex-boyfriend. It was the dress I wore on our first date. Why was I still holding on to him and holding onto hope that we might someday get back together? I needed to release him. So, yes - I got rid of the dress. And everything I had that reminded me of him. I know that may sound dramatic, but it worked for me. It was a tiny step toward letting him go, and not seeing things in my house that reminded me of him helped me to slowly move on.

I hope your clearing journey is as transformative for you as it has been for me.

If you would like to do an emotional inventory before you start clearing out your space, I recommend this self discovery journal by Dr. Natalya of Elna Therapy.

I’m sending you love and lots of encouragement.

Drop me a private message and tell me:

Will you take on this Spring-Cleaning challenge?
If so, which areas of your home are you tackling first?
What are you releasing—and what are you making room for?

Cheers to Learning, Growing, and Living with Purpose,

Mery

P.S.

Below are photos of my little pandemic “cloffice”—the tiny closet I converted into a home office when I started my business. I had a lot on my mind. My cloffice became my sanctuary. My safe space to sit with my mess, to figure myself out, to dream and create.

The second photo is after I decluttered — a process that took me about a year, and proof that just doing a little bit at a time is better than not taking any action at all. As within so without. Take your time. Be gentle with yourself.

#clearing #decluttering #SpringReset #LetsGrowTogether

Edited: May 4, 2025

See My Spring Cleaning Checklist