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i
used to collect ducks. glass ducks, plastic ducks, wooden ducks it
didn't matter. the result of this was that much of my money and time
when i went out was spent on ducks.
a few years later it was
books - old classic books.. i didn't read them i just thought they
looked good and so my shelves were stuffed with them and time and
money spent on old books.
imagine this on a larger
scale.. imagine devoting energy and time and money on collecting
something for a whole house..
after i had moved 13 boxes of
books on my own in a house move i decided that was enough.. in fact i
felt suffocated by my possessions and i gave most away.. which was the
start of only living with the minimum i need.
i realized how
many things i never look at or use except for the times i am clearing
out and look at them and decide to keep them! what is the point of
this.. what is the point of me keeping a tape i don't play, a letter
aunt Nancy wrote me 15 years ago.. does it help me remember her? of
course not. and what about photographs that sit in on a shelf unlooked
at ? and so on.
i have come to realize that collecting and
keeping possessions is about filling up time and using up energy.
imagine if i didn't do that, if no one did it how much more energy and
time we would have to devote to stillness, silence - and our
connection to each other - i believe we would be free of inner
clutter and be able to see each other more clearly. instead of
shopping for that extra duck, that extra book we could be still, or
stood in the shopping mall handing out love, compassion and
forgiveness. my point is that we would be free of clutter and that we
would be left with what is important in life.
i also believe
that filling my house with keepsakes, eroding all space with pictures
is about fear. fear that if i don't have these things something awful
will happen... that i will lose my connection to what is
important. truth is what is important and is inside me and in the passing
sky, the sun the moon and so on.. not in having that book or a
photograph of my dead gran.
so i have found i can let go! i
still have some things but much much less. the result is i have time
for my inner shopping... i don't have so much dusting to do! or
shopping to do, i have more money to spend on what is important such
as good quality food, i have space to move around, and as such my home
feels energized.. energy isn't getting stuck in cluttered corners and
my home mirrors a clear space of trust. each time i clear out i trust
a little bit more.
go on i dare you - have a clear out.
© Jood 2006
