I’ve been on a mission to simplify both my work life and my home life recently. This started back in the spring when I was watching Suze Orman, the financial counselor, on television. She made the statement that clutter in our homes and offices is a sign of clutter in our financial lives. I mentioned in a previous post that the comment had spurred me to do some spring cleaning, and I’m glad to say that I think I’ve now taken that to the extreme.
What started at home as spring cleaning turned into a grand purge of my house. I decided to act as if I were moving (I’m not) and get rid of everything I wouldn’t want to go to the trouble of packing and hauling. What a pile! I decided to have a garage sale. At six a.m. I was outside arranging everything, and contrary to the weather report, it started to rain. I made the snap decision to call a friend who is a perpetual yard-seller, and gave it all away. I also filled two trunks with family heirlooms that I want to pass on to my neices, with the thought that if I gave all that stuff to them now instead of making them wait until I fall over dead to inherit it, I could get it out of my house.
On to the office…by this time I was on a real rampage. I cleaned and de-cluttered and enrolled the staff into doing the same in their treatment rooms. How much stuff does it take to do a massage, anyway? After a few years in practice, the things you collect just seem to get out of hand. I remember a comedy routine that the recently departed George Carlin had about “stuff”. He talked about getting rid of your “stuff” so you would have more room to get more “stuff”. I have made a vow not to fall into that; I’m not getting any more “stuff.”
Then I decided to call a staff meeting. I sent out for pizza and we had a pow-wow, cleared the air of a few issues that have been bugging me and others, as will happen anytime there’s a group of people working together, and just had a great time talking about where we all are in our process and where we want to go. I swear you could actually see the energy shift take place.
We’re all facing our own issues in our personal and work lives. We can hang on to those just as long as we want to, our we can take a deep breath and let them go. I let a lot of stuff go in the last couple of weeks, and I even lost a few pounds without making any effort to do so–maybe those issues were carrying some real weight–but in any case, I even feel lighter. The funny thing at the office is that even those clients who don’t actually have the consciousness of energy have come in and said things like “Did you paint in here?” (No.) “Is that a new bench?” (No.) “Is something different in here?” (Yes, the energy.) Just affirming the fact that cleaning and clearing is, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing.
Peace and Prosperity,
Laura Allen
July 16th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
The added bonus of passing the heirlooms onto your neices NOW is that you are still available to identify and tell stories about the items that have been handed down through generations.
Kudos to you on your efforts!! It’s amazing the mental clarity that is gained from clearing out clutter of any sort, especially all sorts. *wink*
July 16th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Hi Laura,
I am in the process of clearing out “stuff”. Actually hired a professional organizer for 10 hours to help me in the process. I learned so far that I could have easily gotten this info from a book & no one else can go through & decide what to do with your stuff. Although, the organizer had ideas, think she would have had me hold onto more things than I would really need to. She looked at me twice when I didn’t want to save a little wallet sleeve sewing kit, I knew then this could be a very costly process if I kept everything and organized it into categories and then tried to put everything in a place, this would be a very slow and long process of keeping things I didn’t need in an organized manner; bins, files … can work in the end for things I really use and have a purpose for. After 10 hours I still had stuff in the room and outside the room in different piles with labels.
I guess that is a start.
I do get a bit overwhelmed, but am slowly (but quicker than when I was working with the organizer) am going through the “stuff”. Years of accumulating things, doesn’t go away over night. Nothing, toxic or dirty, just too many nice things or present, need more friends to give gifts too perhaps. LOL and no more shopping for things I don’t need, just because I like it. I saw hand towels embroidered with Relax, bought them & realized I wouldn’t really have a place to use them anyway, even if I thought it was some how massage related and returned them. I knew then I was going in the right direction now.
I have donated, recycled & plan on perhaps selling some stuff ( did a yard sale in the spring, might do another in the fall). All and all, I know it will feel like a weight has been lifted, I just hope I have the patience to sift through it all. I do feel better, just still know , I have along way to go, to create truly the space that surrounds me to be one of beauty and simplicity. I wouldn’t mind loosing a bit of weight in the process, as you mentioned your shift their too.
If you have any more insight, tips or ideas from your experience, I would be great full to hear from you.
Thanks! Laurie
July 16th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Boy oh boy Laura… I’m jealous!!!! I’ve got all the clutter, here there & everywhere. Scard to death I’ll become my mother’s daughter. (She’s a pack rat worse case) We’re in the midst of renovating our home. Prayfully, with a mostly new home, I’ll release & let it go… thanks for sharing!
July 17th, 2008 at 4:41 am
As I packed the items for my nieces, I wrote them a letter telling them who each item had belonged to, and when that person had lived. Everything I gave them had come from someone who has already passed that they never got to meet, like my great-grandparents. I hope they’ll keep the letters and pass it down to their children when they have them. I did tell stories, like the one about the butterfly quilt my grandmother had made; the butterflies were made from dresses my mother had as a little girl–and the dresses had been made from flour sacks. It was a little bittersweet packing it all up, but I still feel good for having done it.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:13 am
My cleansing came from a flood 2 years ago. We lost all our “stuff” and haven’t replaced it. At first I was devastated but now we have totally downsized and I can’t be any happier.
Take the time to downsize now when you can donate “stuff” to others who might need your “stuff” and actually use it.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Amy,
I’m so sorry about the way things happened, but it does seem every cloud has a silver lining, and you have risen above the flood waters! Good luck to you!
Laura