Let it go! We are a society that loves our stuff, possessions and things. It is like a sugar fix. I buy something and for a short time, it makes me happy. Having moved countries, cities and apartments over the last 15 years, it is the people, community and connections that make a place.
Being a lover of marketing and packaging, I can be enticed but over the years, de-cluttering has become a practice. It started in New York with a lack of space and where square metres cost money. All of us had storage units full of furniture and things we didn’t want to give away but sometimes, you have to.
Feng Shui Golden Rule
By clearing out a cluttered space, you are giving it room to breathe and to bring in better energy and inner harmony. By now, you will know the main entrance to your space is really important. How often do you walk in to a place and almost tumble over shoes, coats and bags? The Chi energy is already stumbling instead of flowing. If you really need to put shoes there, only put one pair, and neatly. Otherwise, put them away. Clear out closets, drawers – pull everything out and put back only the essentials.
The Three Sections
1. Pull everything out and put it in three sections. Can you sell it on-line or at a market? Keep in mind, you will rarely get the price you think it should sell for. Let it go. Can you do a clothes swap? A Berlin shop re-purposes fabrics to make new clothes.
2. The second pile is what you will donate to friends or a charity. Make sure it is worth donating and at least wash it. Various charities say they often get dirty, old clothing which they have to dispose of. Old t-shirts can be cut up to make soft polishing cloths.
3. The last pile is the toughest; memories. It is difficult to let go of items that have an emotional connection. Can you take a photo of it instead? Can the photos be saved on a portable hard drive to easily reprint? The toughest question, should you let the memory go? A girlfriend had lost her love and decided to start dating a couple of years later. Her apartment had photos of them, his ornaments and other memories. She asked what she could do to start again and realized she was living with the memory, like a ghost. She took down the photos and items and only kept the most important in a small box. She eventually ended up happily with a new partner.
Books
This was a hard one for us as we love reading. Books are also a symbol of knowledge and thought. We had no room for them in New York and donated them to a library. We both use Kindle to store books but we still buy a paperback for travel and the beach.
