A Little Trash Talk 🫢

Trash day was late this week.

Thanks to the holiday, our regular pickup was pushed back a day. 

Not a big deal, right? But I felt it. All day. 

The bins stayed heavy and full, lurking just outside the garage like a physical reminder that something was off. 

Not dramatic, just…heavier.

The delay wasn’t long, but it was enough to throw things off-kilter. 

And it got me thinking, “Was it just the garbage making things feel off?” 

Or was I carrying some other weight I hadn’t acknowledged?

 

A Stinky Realization

The short answer: yes…there was other stuff weighing me down.

If I’m honest, the previous day I’d been riding the Judgment Train straight through every station. 

I was unusually hard on myself over a few simple tasks I didn’t get done—emails, a phone call, tidying my desk. Things I could’ve finished in 30 minutes flat, but I procrastinated and mentally flogged myself for it.

Then I looked out the window and noticed our rental-neighbor’s lawn (or lack thereof), and I caught myself judging them too. As I stood on my porch pretending not to be the neighborhood lawn police, I thought, “How hard is it to pull a few weeds?”  

And later, while hosting dinner, I silently critiqued how the table was set—not quite my standard—and the conversation felt flat. Instead of leaning in or lifting the energy, I silently blamed myself for setting a tired tone.

That’s a lot of mental garbage in one 24-hour span.

 

Trash Talk Comes in Many Forms

We all do it. That internal commentary, that subtle (or not-so-subtle) voice that judges, criticizes, compares, and complains. 

It’s sneaky. 

Sometimes it comes disguised as “standards” or “just venting” or “telling it like it is.”

But really? It’s just trash talk.
And not all of it is directed at others. 
The worst of it is often aimed inward. 

We talk trash to ourselves about our productivity, our parenting, our bodies, our homes, our choices.

This mental garbage builds up, and unlike the actual trash, there’s no uniformed team rolling up the driveway to haul it away for us.

 

 

The Hidden Gift of Garbage Day

Here’s the part I’m grateful for…

We are blessed to live in a place where someone else literally takes our trash. What a privilege! 

I fill a bin, drag it to the curb, and poof—someone comes and makes it disappear. I don’t have to think about it again.

But the emotional, mental, and spiritual trash? That’s on us.

We have to do the hauling. The sorting. The choosing. 

We decide what gets tossed, what gets recycled, and what just needs to be looked at a little more closely.

 

Not All Garbage Is Waste

In our house, we recycle a lot. 

And that got me thinking—maybe not everything we think is garbage really is.

We can reuse or repurpose some of it. 

That judgment I felt toward myself? 

Maybe there’s a lesson in it. Not to shame myself, but to pause and ask: Why am I procrastinating? What’s underneath this self-criticism? 

Maybe I’m overwhelmed. Maybe I need support. That insight is worth saving.

Even the judgment toward the neighbors or the tired dinner party—those can be recycled too. 

They reveal where I might need more compassion, more humor, or a fresh standard for what “good enough” really means.

We don’t have to throw it all away. 

Some of our trash can actually become compost—fuel for growth.

 

What Kind of Garbage Are You Holding?

Take a moment to consider: what garbage are you carrying?

Maybe it’s a grudge that smells worse with time.
Maybe it’s gossip that leaves a foul taste in your mouth. 

Maybe it’s an outdated story about what you “should” be doing or achieving by now.

Or maybe it’s just a little trash talk—judgmental thoughts, inner criticism, or low-level resentment that hums in the background of your daily life like an old fridge.

Some of that needs to be tossed.
Some might be recyclable. 

Either way, it’s time to really look at what you are holding and choose…

Is it yesterday’s junk or tomorrow’s treasure?

 

🌱 The Practice: Keep or Toss?