Letting Go and Keeping It Simple

Not so easy.  Face it, we are attached to our stuff.

I know when I had to clean out my clothes closet a few years back to make room for a new me, I was really faced with an emotional attachment I had to my clothes that I never ever knew!

What? throw that away?  I  M---I---G---H---T wear that someday! NOT.

We hold onto the past in so many ways, and it's just not good. When we clear out old stories, old crutches, old ways of doing things - literally and figuratively - we make room and space for this life today, for new realizations and consciousness. What better way to live?

This happens all the time and especially when we age. Due to the aging process, my folks recently came to the decision that they need to live year-round in Florida. It was a tough decision for them as that means letting go of a summer home up north filled with more than 50 years of memories, both material and emotional.

A few family members and I traveled to our childhood home recently to begin the process of helping my parents with the transition.  They weren't able to make the trip, so we were honored to help out.

This is the place we all came to as babies and then brought our children to.  All of us experienced years and years of fond times. Who we are is wrapped up in part with that house.

Still, clearing it out and letting it go is the right thing to do now, as hard as it is.  It's time to pass on this beautiful home on the water to the next generation of another family.

Stage One:  As the POD arrived for shipping some important memories to Florida, I was caught off-guard by my tears.  It was hard to accept that this was really happening now.  I am so grateful that my parents are still alive as many do this lifeasana after the fact.  Again, it is an honor to help my parents now after all they've done for me over so many years.  And I mean ALL.

As we began the task of going through someone else's stuff, it became taxing and overwhelming for all of us. Physically and emotionally draining.  Some people clean out regularly and others, well, they don't.  I get it, it's hard as you get older and owning two homes far away from each other adds another dimension of challenge. (Note to self: clean out the clutter now, so my kids aren't left with it!)

Some things we four children will take, but most will go to an auctioneer. I'm hoping some stuff will end up in shelters. A lot will go to the dump.  This is really hard for me to see so much of my family history end up in a landfill.  It is so unnecessary for any of us to accumulate so much.  And we all are guilty of this.

To think of the things I've thrown away over the years makes me sick. (Imagine if we all lived down to basics, without anything extraneous! Wouldn't our planet, our communities, our minds benefit?)

I took away from that 5 days that I don't want to put this burden on my own children.  As hard as it is, it's so important to let go regularly of our stuff or more importantly, to refrain from buying so much.  Not only will it open up the energy in a home but also in our lives.  The more we have, the more we have actually weighing us down.  And we don't take it with us in the end anyway!

The older I get, the more I appreciate the famous slogan:  Keep It Simple.  Instead of trying to fill a void inside of me with so much outside stuff, I'm trying to now consciously live on the lighter side.  It's not easy!  I'm really trying to purchase everyday items and furniture more consciously, so I don't accumulate too much.  Who needs 10 bottles of anything?

Do I REALLY need it?

Experiencing my parents' summer home in a whole different way has given me food for thought to clean out my own house again. Really take a look a what's accumulated in four short years and identify what I can let go of.  (Now, to find the time!)

Stage Two:  Summer house is on the market.  When it sells, we return for the massive, and I mean massive, final letting go.

Travel Light, Live Light, Spread the Light, Be the Light - Yogi Bhajan

xoK