The start of it all! Ahhh, it was fresh, sweet and a bit sour all rolled into one. To go through old things and settle to put them in the “keep” or “go” pile really tests your mind frame on what it is that’s truly important in life for ones self. The best way to start, is slowly! (then again, for me, it was all or nothing). I was looking for freedom, and for me, my minor hoarding habits were staring me in the eye, eating away at me. “It’s you or me,” is what it taunted me with. Did I really need all my school work from grade school that my mother tucked away nicely in boxes upon boxes for me in the garage? Or old clothes and knick knacks from my childhood? Was I really holding onto something special, an heirloom to pass down to my children and their children before them? I didn’t think so, so out to the “go pile” it all went. there were parts that felt as though I were saying goodbye to the objects, that I had some sort of attachment to them. In that moment there is when I realized it had to go as it is the root of suffering…attachment! To let it all go was a breath of fresh air and I could see a new horizon in the back drop with each item entering the “go” pile. Sure I struggled and tussled a bit from time to time as my mind shifted from “important” to “trash” within the rolodex of my mind, but in the end,  with every tiny little piece of my old self that I donated for someone else’s disposal, I felt myself become alleviated and more myself.  These “things” weren’t a part of me. Sure they were memories, that perhaps I feared would slip away if they were tossed, but did I really even go through all the clutter anyways? No, in fact, I usually avoided it like the plague so that I didn’t have to deal with it at all. Sure it was nice to recall sweet things of the past and feelings associated with these little trinkets, which truly did inhibit feelings of joy, but to purge was a feeling of freedom, utter relentless freedom to move about the Earth with no baggage and to do so as I please.

I urge all of you who seem to find the struggle of finding peace and joy to give decluttering a shot. Not only will you feel better, but your spirit will feel lighter. An invisible weight fro  your shoulders will be lifted and you’ll walk with a little more happiness. It may be just one small piece to creating the life you’re looking for!

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