Throw it away already!
Melody | Thursday, 17 August, 2006 at 8:54 AM 
Are you a packrat? Is it possible you don't even know the true answer to that question? Because I was reared by parents who still have their notebooks from undergraduate days, I feel pretty good when I remember times that I've thrown away this or that "important thing." Learning to let go of "stuff you don't need" is apparently going to be a lifelong process for me. Because it's still my tendancy to keep great stashes of things I don't need. And I can typically justify it all day long.
This goes for emotional stuff, too, of course. I've been reading books and articles, and having conversations with similarly-goaled friends lately, concerning the need to release stuff that holds us back so that we can make room for what we actually do prefer to have in our lives. This process has reminded me of how easy it is to get caught up in focusing on thoughts that don't serve our highest good. Subtle wastes of time that I don't even notice, they're so ingrained.
Well, yesterday while thinking about the ways releasing could help my life to run more efficiently, I sat on the floor and picked through boxes of clay pendants that have been piling up over time. I'd started off with a different goal: to find a few forgotten pendants and put them on cord to help flesh out a gallery in one of the new-and-improved photo galleries I'm working on for this website. For some reason, I've kept many that truly didn't work for me. It's hard, though, to throw out "my little babies" when they're so new. And so as I turned them over and peeked through the inventory, and kept noticing pieces that will only work if something happens: if I sand this piece off, or drill that hole bigger, or if I find a way to alter that, I realized something so simple. It's not gonna' happen. Period. Some of them didn't even need changes. They were never good in the first place. Simple as that. Doesn't matter how many times I look at them, in what light, in what mood. Sometimes creative experiments don't work out. It's very simple.
So I threw 'em away. Bunches of them. Went back in there this morning and threw away even more that had been stored elsewhere. Having lots and lots of pendants as a part of some odd backup plan is merely that: a bunch of pendants. Doesn't mean they were ever worth keeping, though. And in the end, they were just clutter.
It felt good. I still don't feel hesitation when I see 'em piled there in the bottom of the trash. Thought I'd share a photo and let you enjoy my pleasure right along with me.
Meanwhile, I'm working on thoughts that relate the emotional baggage I struggle to let go of, with the physical baggage I keep carrying around with me... I'm becoming more and more convinced it's all connected.
Reader Comments (7)
We are pack rats--yes. It is hard to throw away things that you might be able to use later. It is good to have a place for everything so that you can find it. That is my goal--someday!
Could you bring me some pendants--I could use them with children--they would love them.
Love
Mom
Sorry. The pendants are gone. Yes, I know the children would love them, but since they don't know what they're missing, we'll just let that possibility go.
Love you too,
Melody
Mom