Downsizing: Part 1

Let's focus on just two questions that will help you find a focus and mental clarity when approaching the prospect of downsizing your belongings. What do you want and what do you need? Allow these questions to guide your process instead of guilt, overwhelm, fear, and expectation. When you allow yourself the gift of listening to what you truly desire, the next steps become very clear.

Have you been thinking about downsizing but don't know where to start? Let's open up the conversation about how to begin. The process may differ for everyone, but learning how to start is the crucial part. Let's open our eyes to what's actually around us. You may be inspired to begin asking what actually matters to you.

Here's a new tool in your decluttering toolbox. Learn the connection between your identities and possessions and feel more empowered to detach from what's no longer "you."

Instead of offering solutions about how to let go of what no longer serves you, I'd simply like to say, I get why you have so much excess. I understand why you feel all the emotions you do about your stuff. It makes sense why you are carrying too much. I understand and it's OK. Sometimes all we need to do is validate why we feel the way we feel. 

Whatever item you own you have to manage emotionally as well as physically. Managing a possession means building a relationship to it through your thoughts and feelings about the item. If we recognize that we're managing too many dysfunctional relationships, we can find the strength to let the items go and find freedom.

It can be so helpful to recognize that it's normal to feel flooded with all kinds of thoughts and emotions when we're deciding what to do with an item. The decision making process is fraught with indecision and paralysis because we often don't feel skilled in sorting through the barrage of thoughts. A very helpful tip is to figure out what thoughts are relevant and what thoughts are irrelevant to the decision at hand. Once we understand what we need to focus on to help make our decision, we can feel confident in the process itself. 

Do the items that we purchase in a gift shop truly enhance our experience of a place or event? Is it possible that we don't need to buy more stuff in order to keep our memories alive within us?

How might a decluttering process work differently if you begin by seeking out possessions that fill you with positive emotions, rather than trying to root out those that weigh you down with negative ones?

The natural world is in a constant state of life and death- the elaborate process of renewal and change. For anyone looking to understand why it is helpful to let go of items, take a listen here about shedding our skin and allowing renewal to occur.

The cycle of acquisition and letting go can be likened to a cycle of breathing. With every inhale, there is an exhale. With every thing that we let stay in our house, we can find those papers to let go of.