Light and Lean

We have been preparing to move out of our house and I’ve come face-to-face with all the stuff that accumulates over time. Attics and closets and garages and drawers and places I haven’t looked in a while…contain the stuff of my life. Sometimes it’s easy to decide that something isn’t worth packing to move…old theater tickets, clothes that don’t fit, old tax returns, even a few gifts that I never used. Yard sale, Craig’s list, recycle, trash. It feels good to be able to release stuff that is no longer useful to me.

But then there are the things that hold a lot of meaning for me…the stuff in my pottery studio, my Nikon camera, tools for jewelry making…that I am not sure about releasing. I am still holding on to what I used to have time to do and how it made me feel. Will I ever find the time to mold clay, take photographs or make jewelry? Does it matter?

This is all really good practice…this releasing and considering and making room. I believe that when we release stuff from our physical environment we make room for whatever is next…or we allow the lightness to take us to where we might have been too heavy to go. So the question becomes not “What do I have to leave behind”…but “What decision am I willing to make that will allow me to move on”?

This is a great spiritual practice…to consider the choice I am willing to make in order to be lighter…maybe even happier, more grateful and at ease. The ‘stuff of our life’ can bog us down, and so can the judgments and blame and jealousy that we hold in our hearts. The practice of considering and releasing is one that we can apply to the ‘stuff’ in our environment and to the ‘stuff’ in our heart.

What decision could you make today that would make you feel lighter, happier and ready to move on? Release it, let it go…and feel the freedom, the room, the opening…to a new possibility.

Practice well.

Peace

Paula