I so relate to being in a threshold space. Being here but also being there. Entering, yet not quiet leaving. I love how you brought in decluttering with this. Crossing thresholds are initiatory, usually requiring some sort of letting go. Creating space for what is coming. I am thankful for my husband; he is quite the declutter master. However sometimes I need to refrain him because he is moving too fast for me. I am not quite ready to let certain things go. My decluttering times come as seasons. An inner nudge telling me it is time. And off I go. And yes I find the items that have deep memories, especially of those that have passed are the hardest...
Ahh yes...the entering and not quite leaving. The initiatory space that requires some sort of letting go. I have changed shape and in that change I feel I am unable to be who I was before. A rite of passage. An honouring. A stepping up and into who I am meant to be. And in it comes the decluttering - and the claiming what is my rite to have.
I also really resonate with what you wrote about decluttering comes in seasons... seasons of self, of nature of time...
YES! "I have changed shape and in that change I feel I am unable to be who I was before." SO relate! Such a powerful and exciting place to be in, a birthing of sorts. For me it can be quite challenging and disorientating at times too. I am in one of those times right now. I actually feel like I am walking around inebriated. Each step I take, I am not sure where it is going to land.
I love decluttering and I would like to have a lot less stuff but I find my husband is the opposite. 😁 I have got into trouble in the past for getting rid of his things. 😬 There are only two things of my own that I regretted getting rid of. Things that were given to me by two auntys and really didn't take up space. Things that reminded me that they loved me. Then there were the things that belonged to my dead son and my dead brother. I can't decide how I feel about getting rid of those things. I suppose I was trying to get rid of the triggers that reminded me that they are no longer here. But sometimes I wish I had a few of their things to help me remember them. Perhaps I am healing...
Thank you Karen for sharing this. For sharing the pain in letting something go to early and for sharing the reason why sometimes we let things go (because they trigger us). Thank you also for sharing the vulnerability of loosing a child and what that means in line with keeping physical memories.
It is such a journey - the letting go, the grieving, the holding on, the moving between and through different inner/outer landscapes. May the memories you have be the greatest gifts that your loved ones have left you. In honour of your journey.
This is so timely for me, Sam! Yesterday, my husband and I drove 1000 miles from home to Los Angeles to bring back his childhood piano (yes, a piano, an actual piano) before selling the family home. His father died last year and his mother is in a memory care facility. My attitude about hauling a piano all the way back and putting it somewhere in my small house has been less than buoyant. But in reading your post, my attitude shifted. We'll find room. Other things can go. And I can welcome in this part of my husband as a continuance of Home.
Oh bless you Jenna. Bless you. Thank you for sharing how my post affected you.
And bless your husband too, in this journey of letting go of his old family home. That is such a huge journey - a letting go, a saying goodbye, a new era, a goodbye to another time and place that can never be returned to again in the physical. So many thresholds to cross and to honour.
Does your husband still play the piano? If so, may his playing open exquisite realms within your home and his heart for deep healing and a new sense of home-coming.
This is really helpful Sam as I’m having a declutter as we’re looking to move. It’s been such a good feeling getting rid of stuff that we don’t need and in some cases being quite ruthless. I really want to move to this next chapter in our lives a lot lighter! I actually don’t get attached to many things anymore. The more conscious I have been the less I feel like I need to hang onto, I think that works in all areas! 💫🙏
Ahh the move! The next chapter in one's life. The next part of one's journey. What does one take? What does one leave behind? Ohhh, I would love to hear how that goes...
I resonate with what you write here about the more conscious I have become the less I feel I need to hang on...I feel the same and yet in some cases am unsure what to do with things...
What do you do with the "I am unsure what to do with you pile?"
I think of Ghandi who only died with 8 possessions....
I’ll let you know Sam! I have found that there are so many things that I’m no longer attached to, that I used to be. If it doesn’t have a purpose and you’ve not used it in 6 months then I’d see it feels ok to say goodbye to it. 💫🙏
I so relate to being in a threshold space. Being here but also being there. Entering, yet not quiet leaving. I love how you brought in decluttering with this. Crossing thresholds are initiatory, usually requiring some sort of letting go. Creating space for what is coming. I am thankful for my husband; he is quite the declutter master. However sometimes I need to refrain him because he is moving too fast for me. I am not quite ready to let certain things go. My decluttering times come as seasons. An inner nudge telling me it is time. And off I go. And yes I find the items that have deep memories, especially of those that have passed are the hardest...
Ahh yes...the entering and not quite leaving. The initiatory space that requires some sort of letting go. I have changed shape and in that change I feel I am unable to be who I was before. A rite of passage. An honouring. A stepping up and into who I am meant to be. And in it comes the decluttering - and the claiming what is my rite to have.
I also really resonate with what you wrote about decluttering comes in seasons... seasons of self, of nature of time...
YES! "I have changed shape and in that change I feel I am unable to be who I was before." SO relate! Such a powerful and exciting place to be in, a birthing of sorts. For me it can be quite challenging and disorientating at times too. I am in one of those times right now. I actually feel like I am walking around inebriated. Each step I take, I am not sure where it is going to land.
I love decluttering and I would like to have a lot less stuff but I find my husband is the opposite. 😁 I have got into trouble in the past for getting rid of his things. 😬 There are only two things of my own that I regretted getting rid of. Things that were given to me by two auntys and really didn't take up space. Things that reminded me that they loved me. Then there were the things that belonged to my dead son and my dead brother. I can't decide how I feel about getting rid of those things. I suppose I was trying to get rid of the triggers that reminded me that they are no longer here. But sometimes I wish I had a few of their things to help me remember them. Perhaps I am healing...
Thank you Karen for sharing this. For sharing the pain in letting something go to early and for sharing the reason why sometimes we let things go (because they trigger us). Thank you also for sharing the vulnerability of loosing a child and what that means in line with keeping physical memories.
It is such a journey - the letting go, the grieving, the holding on, the moving between and through different inner/outer landscapes. May the memories you have be the greatest gifts that your loved ones have left you. In honour of your journey.
This is so timely for me, Sam! Yesterday, my husband and I drove 1000 miles from home to Los Angeles to bring back his childhood piano (yes, a piano, an actual piano) before selling the family home. His father died last year and his mother is in a memory care facility. My attitude about hauling a piano all the way back and putting it somewhere in my small house has been less than buoyant. But in reading your post, my attitude shifted. We'll find room. Other things can go. And I can welcome in this part of my husband as a continuance of Home.
Oh bless you Jenna. Bless you. Thank you for sharing how my post affected you.
And bless your husband too, in this journey of letting go of his old family home. That is such a huge journey - a letting go, a saying goodbye, a new era, a goodbye to another time and place that can never be returned to again in the physical. So many thresholds to cross and to honour.
Does your husband still play the piano? If so, may his playing open exquisite realms within your home and his heart for deep healing and a new sense of home-coming.
In honour of all that you are.
This is really helpful Sam as I’m having a declutter as we’re looking to move. It’s been such a good feeling getting rid of stuff that we don’t need and in some cases being quite ruthless. I really want to move to this next chapter in our lives a lot lighter! I actually don’t get attached to many things anymore. The more conscious I have been the less I feel like I need to hang onto, I think that works in all areas! 💫🙏
Ahh the move! The next chapter in one's life. The next part of one's journey. What does one take? What does one leave behind? Ohhh, I would love to hear how that goes...
I resonate with what you write here about the more conscious I have become the less I feel I need to hang on...I feel the same and yet in some cases am unsure what to do with things...
What do you do with the "I am unsure what to do with you pile?"
I think of Ghandi who only died with 8 possessions....
I’ll let you know Sam! I have found that there are so many things that I’m no longer attached to, that I used to be. If it doesn’t have a purpose and you’ve not used it in 6 months then I’d see it feels ok to say goodbye to it. 💫🙏
Ahh one of the advantages of moving, letting stuff go. Blessings on your decultter and your move.