Yesterday was the last of my month-long sabbatical. I finishing it by clearing space in my garage, tossing out old projects and items, many of which should have never been brought into the garage. The idealist in me over-commits: "Oh, I could make something out of that, or use that!" Looking over all the stuff in my garage, I could see and feel the weight of all those unfinished projects and promises.
Sometimes what happens on the outside mimics and feeds what's happening on the inside. Letting go of physical stuff can help us let go of emotional and spiritual weight, too.
More than catharsis, it's about narrowing and focusing our time, talents, resources, and energy to be more effective in a few areas, rather than dabbling and never finishing or even starting a thousand other things.
This branches from earlier posts about being content. Discontent with ourselves, current situations, or others leads some to amass stuff, projects, committees or responsibilities. I think at some point discontent grows in proportion to the unused stuff, unfulfilled hopes, and unfinished projects we've collected. There's more to worry over, too many times and ways that we feel we've let ourselves or others down.
More than likely, others around us have moved on. They don't need to carry our baggage. Have we moved on? We can. By letting go. There many things worth doing, worth time and energy, but maybe not our time and energy.
There are quite a few things I have enjoyed doing or building in my garage, but what has fed me more than anything else? Painting. However, I let other things to move into my "studio space" in the garage, thinking it would only be a few weeks. Instead, I should have used that intrusion as a reason to say "no" to the added stuff and projects.
In life, protect what's most valuable by giving them most of your time, energy and space. That includes your faith in and worship of God, your family, and physical, emotional and spiritual health (and, depending on individual deficits, not necessarily in that order). That means letting go of some plans, good ideas, responsibilities, and even some marginally fun hobbies.
Right now, I'm reading The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta. He describes habits that can help de-clutter our lives in terms of time and energy. I'm only a few chapters into it, but looking forward to working on some of his suggestions! If any of this rings true for you, this is my recommended summer reading.
Blessings!
