The Joy of Purging (Stuff)
Anybody who knows me and anybody who began reading this blog at its inception knows I have some pack rat tendencies. (Does pack rat tendencies sound better than hoarding issues?) Anyway, I keep too much stuff. I form (sometimes ridiculous) attachments to this stuff and tossing it generally causes anxiety. It's nothing along the lines of the Collier brothers (look them up, they were kinda' scary) but it still can be problematic.
Backtracking a little, the last few months have been filled with chaos, upheaval, uncertainty and some soul-searching. Some of this was fairly public. Some of it nobody knows about. Anyway, in the midst of all this, I decided to do something unprecedented (for me). Instead of desperately trying to cling to the status quo, I tried to actively embrace change. It was happening to me anyway. Like assimilation into the Borg collective, I figured resistance was futile.
I actively, consciously began throwing out stuff. When it was applicable, I also took it to the thrift store. While I'm a pack rat, I'm also a yoga teacher and I understand that in order to bring new positive things into your life, you need to be able to jettison old things ( also habits, ideas, perseverations etc) which are no longer serving you.
Because tossing crap does cause me a certain degree of anxiety, this was difficult at first. But small successes (small drawer full of makeup, anyone?) led to more successes. As the pile of trash in (and next to) the trash hauler tote grew, so too did my blessings.
Don't believe me? It the past two weeks, since I've been seriously tossing stuff, I've been invited to go on TV (local access cable) and talk about my novel, I've completed a training I've wanted to do for years, I've adopted the world's sweetest cat from an animal shelter, I've been asked if I want to try my hand a grant writing, I've gotten my youngest child (who wants to do nothing and often wants nothing to do with me) to agree to take an online class about the brain with me this summer. I've been offered a fabulous price on a car for my oldest who will soon be licensed. I've signed up for training which I think will be a building block for my future. And by the way, based on a phone interview, I earned a partial scholarship for that training!
Last month, I seriously felt like my life wasn't really working for me. I wasn't sure what to do about it or what was working. Now, good things are happening. Life isn't perfect because life never is (and who would want it to be?) but positive energy is afoot.
Now my biggest worry is what if I run out of things to throw away? Nah...have you seen my house? That's probably never going to happen!
Backtracking a little, the last few months have been filled with chaos, upheaval, uncertainty and some soul-searching. Some of this was fairly public. Some of it nobody knows about. Anyway, in the midst of all this, I decided to do something unprecedented (for me). Instead of desperately trying to cling to the status quo, I tried to actively embrace change. It was happening to me anyway. Like assimilation into the Borg collective, I figured resistance was futile.
I actively, consciously began throwing out stuff. When it was applicable, I also took it to the thrift store. While I'm a pack rat, I'm also a yoga teacher and I understand that in order to bring new positive things into your life, you need to be able to jettison old things ( also habits, ideas, perseverations etc) which are no longer serving you.
Because tossing crap does cause me a certain degree of anxiety, this was difficult at first. But small successes (small drawer full of makeup, anyone?) led to more successes. As the pile of trash in (and next to) the trash hauler tote grew, so too did my blessings.
Don't believe me? It the past two weeks, since I've been seriously tossing stuff, I've been invited to go on TV (local access cable) and talk about my novel, I've completed a training I've wanted to do for years, I've adopted the world's sweetest cat from an animal shelter, I've been asked if I want to try my hand a grant writing, I've gotten my youngest child (who wants to do nothing and often wants nothing to do with me) to agree to take an online class about the brain with me this summer. I've been offered a fabulous price on a car for my oldest who will soon be licensed. I've signed up for training which I think will be a building block for my future. And by the way, based on a phone interview, I earned a partial scholarship for that training!
Last month, I seriously felt like my life wasn't really working for me. I wasn't sure what to do about it or what was working. Now, good things are happening. Life isn't perfect because life never is (and who would want it to be?) but positive energy is afoot.
Now my biggest worry is what if I run out of things to throw away? Nah...have you seen my house? That's probably never going to happen!
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