Sifting Through the Stuff

I am inspired by a fellow Practitioner, who now lives across the pond and has reduced his life to the size of a suitcase. I would like to get around to something like that! The sentiment in itself promises freedom, adventure, limitlessness… and all possibilities. Though now, I feel so anxious with all my stuff. It feels like a paperweight weighing me down, preventing me from flying and being free to be my ultimate true wonderful self. Some days I just want to give it all away… but then I think I would be silly wearing the same thing every day. Not to mention having to do laundry naked would be interesting and a little terrifying!
And just thinking about all the stuff that owns me touches upon my mental hoarding mind that collects all the thoughts and attachments of how I relate and feel about stuff. I think I could be better at being a mindful momenteer if I could rid myself of all my lack luster items.
So with all my energy turned on this subject, I came across a nifty book called The Life – Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, who shares a process about how to get rid of stuff. I have to say I am overwhelmed by the process. I thought I made it through step one where you tackle all your clothes. The idea behind step one is to gather ALL your clothes, I mean every piece from every corner, nook, basket, crevice, and cranny and place them in a pile. Then pick up each piece one by one and ask simply if it gives you joy. If the answer is no, you simply thank it for its service and put it in an appreciation stack which will later be donated to a new caregiver. The pieces which resonate joy are placed in the second pile to keep. Well… I choked to some degree. I was feeling panicky that none of my clothes gave me joy, so I created a joy scale. It was my work around to shore up and prevent a catastrophe from occurring! I was afraid that I wouldn’t own a stitch of clothing, at the rate I was going. I also discovered that most the clothes I have are to please my job. Apparently, none of my joyful clothes are not allowed at my place of work; this makes me a little sad. What to do about that, I know not the answer, yet. However, I did pack up 3 bags for the GW. So there was SOME progress there! The process has me stalled to move onto the next step; I feel that I should do the first step over again and just let go enough to put all those non-joy giving clothes in the rightful pile. That is my next bold brave step to take… and like all fears faced, it is best to breathe easy and take one step at time.
Just talking about via this post this has lessened the anxiety… and I feel there may be a hint of excitement taking its place. This could be an adventure in itself! Thanks for giving me space to share my “stuff-lightening” journey!
Dee Jones
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner