In the few weeks I have been purging my cluttered study, I have discovered a lot of things. First, the rest of my home deserves the same treatment. Second, I am ready to let goof far more than I ever imagined. Third, I am who I am, and have been for some time. Things I wrote or collected years ago still resonate. Fourth, this clutter has been far more limiting and crippling than I ever realized.
Part of project has me talking to folks with same kind of house as I live in. One is a retired pastor who enlightened me. She has helped many people close the home of someone who has died. The deceased's treasures become thrift store fodder. How much of this stuff do I want to take into the next chapter of my life?
It is a big question. So this de-cluttering is leading me to evaluate what matters to me, and what I want to leave for my daughter to deal with when I die.
Peace, y'all
Molly
2 days ago
1 comment:
You're not alone in recognizing the clutter and doing something about it. Early in January I pulled out notes from Carolyn Koehnline's workshop, "Clearing Clutter-Making Room for the Spirit" (don't know if you were at the PNQM session when she was the plenary speaker). Carrie led a day-long workshop in my community in Aug. 2009. It wasn't until January 2011 that I put her teaching into action in my home office and art studio.
To prepare, I reviewed my notes from the workshop in 2009. You guessed it, I still had the same clutter at the start of 2011 that I had written about nearly two years earlier. This year, though, I set time aside on my calendar, short periods like Carrie suggests, over the first two weeks of the year. With trash bags, recycling bags, and some empty boxes at the ready, I gradually reclaimed these spaces. Several questions kept me moving as I went through shelves, drawers, and work surfaces:
Am I ever going to need this again?
If I let go of it, will I be ok?
Do I love it?
Do I need it?
Does it resonate with who I am today?
Most importantly, one of Carrie's comments became my mantra: "Holding onto clutter can keep your hands full so they're not open for whatever is before you now."
My hands - as well as my desk and my studio - are less full now. My creative juices are flowing again. I wish the same for you in this sacred act of making room for what matters.
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