Yesterday's clutter busting workshop was fantastic. People brought bags and boxes of their clutter and then one by one they let their clutter go. It's just like a clutter bust. At first there's an apprehension. One of the participants said she was feeling anxious just watching someone go through their things in front of the group. There's a tangible feeling to want to hang onto things and not question them. But as each person questioned each of the things they brought, it became obvious that the stuff no longer had a place in their lives, and it became easy to let go.
One woman brought a box loaded with cassettes. Some of it was music that she no longer listened to. At first she didn't want to let it go because she had a lot of powerful memories around the music. But it became obvious to her that she would not listen to this music anymore, and she noticed that the presence of the tapes was making her tired. So she put them in the donate bag. She also had a lot of audio tapes of lectures that she felt she "should" listen to. She seemed so sad when she said, "Should." Should means, "I don't want to do this, but I'm supposed to." Should means clutter. It indicates that you're not interested in this thing. It's easier when we let these things go so we can go back to enjoying our lives. Everyone in the group noticed how tired and unhappy she looked being trapped by the "should" energy. She got it and let the lecture tapes go.
Another woman was having a hard time deciding about some old wallet. I asked her if she liked the wallet or could she let it go. She said, "Maybe." Whenever my clients say maybe, their voice sounds listless. The subtext in their voice is saying no. But a part of them is feeling some fear about letting it go and the fear prevents them from saying no. "Maybe" brings things to a halt because nothing happens. So I asked her, "Do you like the shoes you are wearing today?" She became strong again and said, "Yes!" I told her that her easy, simple and direct "Yes" is an indicator of when something is actually a part of her life. She didn't have to think about it. It was clear to her. I had her contrast her half-hearted "maybe" with her bold "yes", and she saw what was going on and let the "maybe" item go.
