Release

I was reading my moms blog ( http://myownvelvetroom.blogspot.com/ ) today, she was speaking of an attempt to clean her bookshelves. She hoped to slim down the collection and actually add some ornaments in an effort to make it more appealing to the eye. She talked of having a difficult time sorting through them and the books being more like old friends or family members. Each book had the power to take her back to another time, another place. She didn’t complete the task in the perceived way, in the end, deciding to keep most of them.


It got me thinking of my own collection of books, memories and people that I have a hard time letting go of. I am sure we can all add a whole slew of other things to the list, but we aren’t talking about Hoarding as an issue! I completely identify with my mom when it comes to my books, they really do become a part of us, and I have faced the same dilemma as far as trying to discard some. But there are other things that I keep in my life with images of the future, what I may want then, what I may want to share with others and some with a project in mind. I keep things in my life with no purpose for them in the given moment.

I think of these things that we have difficulty releasing from our possession, our hearts, minds and our lives. At times we think these items define us, we think they are a part of WHO we are. Sometimes we tell ourselves it would be a loss to not have this thing in our life, it would be missed or needed in the future. We say that it wouldn’t be fair to forget, or we think that to forget would be to forgive. We believe that to leave that person behind would end their world, or to allow them to leave us would stop our own lives. There is a tendency to hold onto the things that truly hold us back, or put up blocks in the natural flow of our life, while actually doing so is what holds us back from our true intentions. We look for comfort in these old “habits”, when what we actually do is prevent the things that we DO want from coming to us.

While of course there are certain times, books, “things” that we will always keep close, I think we need to be fairly vigilant in what we do allow to remain in our lives. It is important to really understand the thought process that exists inside of us. Are we blocking the good things from coming to us because we INSIST on holding onto ________? Deep down inside do I think I really don’t deserve more? Do I believe that to move forward would be forever forgetting or letting so and so down? Maybe we think that if we hold on just a little bit longer, things will change, they will improve…

It could be certain belongings, thoughts, habits or something else that we insist on holding onto so fervently, but, we need to pause and take an evaluation of what it is that we are really keeping in our life. It’s funny, but there are times that we finally release some of these “things”, and suddenly we feel so much freer, open and hopeful. The doorways have been swept clean and there is a Welcome sign up for all the good that has been waiting for us.