If you had to make a big change tomorrow, or next week, could you? Are you ready for change? Or would you find it difficult to take on a big change in your life?
I found myself thinking about this in the last week or two. My husband has been looking for a new job and we’ve had to consider a possible move.
I’m open to a big change. Granted, there are some reasons why I’d prefer to stay in California (and some reasons I’d prefer to move), but I wouldn’t mind living somewhere else. Giving up our house brought up some issues for us. Although it’s been a financial burden, we love it. So, we have considered how to maintain a rental property, should we decide to do so, that has issues that make it both easy and hard to pick up and leave.
More than that, though, we’ve accumulated so much stuff! OMG. In the 13 years in California and 10 years in this house, we have accumulated a ton of junk. Are we pack rats or what? We were reticent to throw away some of our belongings (that we could have gotten rid of) before our last move. Thus, we have all sorts of things stored away that haven’t been touched for 10 years. Now, I’m definitely questioning that decision.
If I had to move next week, I couldn’t do it—at least not quickly or easily. It would take me a long time to sort through drawers, closets, bags, boxes, and generally clear out my house.
So, today I hired my daughter’s friend to start cleaning out closets for me. Plus, she’s going to figure out how to sell some things for me on Ebay and get items ready for a garage sale. I plan to throw away, give away or sell a ton of stuff—even if we don’t move.
It’s been said that if you want any type of change to occur in your life, you must make room for it—or at least prepare for it. Cleaning out all our junk is definitely a good way to make space. I always want to feel prepared for change…to feel light enough for change.
We carry around enough emotional baggage. It weighs us down. We don’t need the physical baggage as well.
The Kabbalistic creation story reveals that God had to create space—a void—before S/He could create something new, the physical world and all that inhabits it, including human beings. As with most things in life, we need to mimic God’s actions. If you want to be ready for change, or if you want to create change in your life, make room. Create space.
As François Rabelais (c. 1494-1553) said, quoting an old Latin proverb, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Create one and something will fill it. Be clear what you want to fill it with, though.
If, like me, you hang on to lots of stuff, ask yourself, “Why?” Are you afraid you won’t be able to replace it? Do you feel you have a responsibility to keep things so you will remember experiences or people? Are you afraid to let go of the past? Tell me in a comment.
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Hi Nina,
I can relate to this.
Last October my husband got a job for the winter and moved. He was a 10 hour drive through the mountains from our home on the ocean. I spent the winter with our dogs in the home we lived in for 18 years. The town he was working in had a housing shortage and he was living in a bachelor suite, no room for another adult and 2 dogs. His job offer was extended from temporary and seasonal to permanent. I went to visit in March and we met a couple that were going away until the end of September. I could move and we could spend the summer together in this mountain town.
I gave up my business, clients, and decided to make a big change. I packed all our belongings in just over a week and left everything I knew behind. As I watched all our belongings drive away in the moving van I thought, “it doesn’t matter if I ever see any of that ever again.”
Change, letting go of the baggage/clutter and stuff, is a release. It is amazing. I am so glad we took the leap of faith and I wouldn’t want to change any of it.
Good luck with your move, Shayla
Shayla,
Thanks for your comment. We’ve moved a lot, and like you, sometimes my husband has been away from six months at a time. We aren’t sure if we want to risk a move again for a start up. We’ll see. But it feels great to lighten the load a bit. I have trouble with some stuff, like books. And despite knowing better, I sometimes get into scarcity mode and don’t want to give away old clothes “in case I can’t afford to replace them.” In the end, I know if I haven’t used or worn something in the last 5-10 years, it needs to go! I’m open to change.
I’ve gone through changes on this over my life. At one point, I collected things. Now I want to simplify. I love a clean, non-cluttered home, so I’m working towards that. Our house is too big, so I’d like to move eventually. We fill whatever space we have, that is so true! Re: change, I’ve learned there are pros and cons to EVERYTHING, so when we forfeit something, there will be something else we will like elsewhere. No situation is perfect, and I wish I’d learned that younger!
Mare,
So true about filling whatever space we have! We’ve done everything from throwing out photos that bring back bad memories to holding on to every piece of our children’s art. And the thing I’ve discovered I hate most about moving is leaving behind caregivers I love and finding new ones.
Hi Nina,
Now this post hits home. We are living in a place for 12 years and are relocating also to a different state. Now I have an “excuse” of being a pack rat because my hobby is collecting mid century antiques and selling them. I had 2 Garage sales and must say I made a pretty penny.
As we came closer to the end of getting rid of the rest of the stuff in comes a man who is a “picker” – a person that picks things and sells them. Now, I do believe in Divine Intervention and to make a long story short, this man had one child and 2 foster kids that were respectful and loving. You could tell right away the love he gave these children.
He is disabled, but does re sell things. So here we were with about $800 worth of antiques and we were tired. Something in my head told me to give it all to this man and I did. Mind you he is six foot six and had suffered a few losses. We called him as he was questioning his faith in God. Told him that he can have it all for free.
So here we are downsizing and giving this man who really needs this stuff all of it with no question. God works in mysterious ways. The best part was his gratefulness. We held hands and prayed. His little daughter sang “I Believe I Can Fly” and that was God’s gift to me.
Too much stuff? Need to get rid of it? As God to help and there you go. No fuss, no muss, no bother!
Sorry for the novella on this first time on your blog, but we are in a parallel space of moving and I just had to share this story with you.
Blessings,
Donna Your Twitter Friend!
Well, I’m not sure we are moving yet, but I’m trying to ready myself in case we do. And I’m cleaning and fixing and doing…And we can’t do garage sales were we live in the mountains, but a local church sells spots for a sale, and I grabbed one. After that, it’s Craig’s List and Ebay and then I’ll be having someone haul it all of for charity. I already decided that. So thank you for your lovely comment. And please come back and comment again.