I was working recently with a client who felt stuck about a great deal of old papers in her files. I asked her if she was still interested in their information. She thought about it and said with some relief, "I no longer care about this stuff. It's time to move on." She let the papers go.
Moving on. That's where the joy lies. It's living with the flow of life. Trying to hold onto things that used to be in the flow of life hurts us. We're built to be alive. Clutter makes us sedentary. The grip of holding onto things that no longer have the flow is like rigor mortis.
I think we get scared of moving on. There's a feeling, "This used to please me. I once cared about this thing. I might again." But what's true is, these things have become artifacts. It's from a part of our life that's now dead. A part of us dies when we live with these things.
The alternative is to choose life. Real joy comes from the vitality of living with things that motivate our hearts. These things inspire us. Dropping the deadwood brings us to the immediacy of what matters.