I’ve spent an enormous amount of time over the last week throwing away all sorts of stuff. Primarily, however, I’ve thrown away accumulated papers. I can’t believe how many papers I seem to save and collect. I have piles and files filled with papers of all sorts. Most of these papers I must have thought I would want or need at some later date, but at this point I can’t remember why.
Primarily, all this stuff just takes up room in my home and in my office. In the process, it leaves no space for anything new to come in. Thus, by removing it – throwing it away – I create a space for something else to exist.
This works much like the Kabbalistic creation story in which God wanted to create something other than God. The problem was that God was everywhere and everything; no room existed for anything else. Thus, God had to contract to create space for something else to exist as well. Into the void God created within the Divine, something new could become manifest.
So, by cleaning out and throwing away all the old stuff I don’t need – the stuff that is just taking up space – in my home (and in my life), I create a void in which something else can become manifest. I make room for change to take place.
Of course, this is just one way to create change, but it does tend to work pretty well. I’ve gotten really caught up in the process, and I like the results. They make me feel good. It’s easier to think, to focus, to concentrate, and to function in my home with less piles and stuff… Everything feels cleaner and more organized. That’s a nice way to start the New Year anyway.
If you want to create change in the new secular year, begin creating a place for that change to exist now. Look around. What have you accumulated that you don’t need? What can you throw away or give away? How can you make room for change?
