Have you seen some of these news stories on "hoarders?" These people live amongst filth and garbage because they physically and mentally cannot let go of anything. Sometimes it's sentimental, sometimes it's fear, and I'm sure there are dozens of other reasons why people exhibit this behavior. If we're honest with ourselves, we can all probably admit to holding on to material things longer than necessary. We call it clutter, or a "collection," or just stuff, and it fills our attics, closets, bookshelves, and garages. What has happened, though, is things that once gave us comfort are now dragging us down.



Have you ever just attacked a closet and cleared it out? Bags hauled to goodwill, last season's clothes packed into storage, your favorite shirt from college thrown in the garbage? When you finished the job, like items grouped together, shoes all aligned, everything neat and orderly so you can see everything in it's place--how did you feel? Were you breathing deeper? Did you feel a sense of calm, a clearing of the mind? That newly gained energy makes us want to open the trunks of our cars and dig to the back of the pantry and keep the projects going!



All of our belongings hold the energy of our memories we associate with them. We should look around our homes and be uplifted by what we see. When a couch reminds you of the ex-boyfriend you bought it with, and that's not a good memory, away it should go. And if you can't stand your living room lamp or you're embarrassed by your dining room rug, get rid of them. You don't need to go out and replace them right away...just wait. Get that item that is drawing positive energy away from you out of your house and see what happens. Maybe you'll run across a great sale on lamps and you'll find one that casts a warm, cozy glow on your space. Maybe you'll find that your dining room is much more appealing with the bare floor under your feet. If you don't love it, let it go--and who knows, maybe it will be someone else's treasure.



This year as we were pulling out our Christmas decorations I was reminded of my husband's eclectic collections of baubles he used to adorn his house with when he was single. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, passed to him from various people, some created by him in silly moments of creativity. When we moved in together they stuck around for a little while. But one year I just couldn't bring myself to stick the tinsel toothpicks in my houseplants one more time, and we purged it all. We began our own collection of holiday decorations that represented us and the life we were building together. There wasn't room for his bachelor decor any more. This year we sorted through the dozens of homemade ornaments from the kids' preschool years. Some are so precious we proudly hang them on our tree. Others, well, we decided we don't need gaudy foam angels to remind us of how cute our kids were at three. Some were thrown away, some we set aside to pass to them when they're older and they can decide if that glittery star with their face in the middle makes their heart sing or not.



Simplify. Get rid of the old to make room for the new. Live with what you love. For each new thing you bring in to your home, let something else go. Reduce, reuse, recycle. All great lessons to live by. And all strong messages of Feng Shui! If you need some help getting started, give me a call! Sometimes we need a little nudge to get the process going. After all, there are many reasons why we do the things we do. However, I promise, once you get rid of your "stuff" and clear the space, you'll be so glad you did.



peace, love, and purging...