Letting Things Go

6.27.19—Letting Things Go

Some people are good at letting things go. They look an object, assess its importance in their life, decide whether it has served its purpose, hold on to it if it hasn’t, but release it if it has. Other people aren’t so good at letting things go. They look at an object, think about where it came from, connect it to a person or memory, get lost in the story, and then cannot bring themselves to let it go—unless it is quite clearly trash. I am most definitely the latter.

If you come to my house, then you will find yourself surrounded by art, trinkets, practical items, and collectibles that all have meaning to me. Or, if they don’t have a particular meaning, then “they just make me smile” as G-mama once said. While I’ve drastically slowed down my Hallmark and Thrift Store purchases this year, I still have a huge collection of “things” that connect to memories that allow me to think of, celebrate, and pray for people from throughout my life. This is important to me.

So letting go of things is very difficult for me. It is an emotional process that takes time and energy that I don’t often have. But this week I’ve had it. And I’ve been trying something that a dear friend did years ago: She let go of seven items per day. The items didn’t have to be big. Some could be donated; some could be thrown away. But she got rid of seven items per day. And, in time, those seven items added up to many of items that added up to less clutter, more space, and more freedom.

I doubt that I’ll ever be good at letting things go. I don’t let people go very easily either. I know that there is a time and place for everything under the sun—including stuff and relationships. But I still struggle to let go. I care too much. Everything in life is connected in my mind. It’s how I take in information—through intuition and connections—and it’s how I process information as well—through feelings and relationships.

And yet…I don’t want to be weighed down by stuff—by only memories—by things of the past. I want to be free to live now—to move forward—and to make more memories. And so I’m trying. The process is slow. But I’m trying. At least seven items per day…

I used to struggle with fancy coloring books. I’d get overwhelmed by the task of choosing colors for the images. A friend suggested that I limit the colors to 3-5 per page—no matter what the image. In so doing, the task of coloring suddenly became doable…

What is something through which you are slowly making your way? What is something that you struggle to do, and yet you’re doing it anyway? What is something you are breaking into smaller parts so that you can accomplish the whole?

Just seven items per day. Just 3-5 colors. You can do it. I believe that you can.