My client's closet was jam packed. She had treated it like a storage locker for years, placing things inside it and didn't have a clue what was inside.
So we did the big unraveling. I brought out one item at a time and asked if she liked and used it or not. Because she hadn't thought about most of the items for years, she had some distance from them, and found it easy to let them go.
When she came to the bottom of the pile, she discovered a black notebook. She opened it and turned pale. It was the wedding vows she and her ex-husband had hand written for each other over ten years ago. She told me it was a tumultuous relationship and they had a painful divorce. She was feeling tremendous grief.
I said the closet was her numb spot. Sometimes an item has so many painful memories that we have to bury it under a great amount of stuff so we don't feel the hurt any more. But the problem is there isn't enough stuff in the world to erase the pain. The only solution is to let go of the source of the suffering.
My client looked at the notebook, took a breath, and threw out the notebook. I wish I could express the transformation. I could feel her power seep back into her.