Purging material possessions

“Sometimes we forget we even put it there. Sometimes we don’t know where else to put it. And sometimes we don’t know what to do with it, but we simply don’t want to let go of it. Afterall, it would mean letting go of the very person we think we are.”

Almost four years ago (although it seems much longer than that), my partner and I moved into our current home. We were moving into a larger space and so we had more space to spread our material possessions around. Our new home had a basement; a new luxury for us. “Great!,” we thought. “We’ll have space to store our ‘stuff’!”

And ‘stuff’ we have, don’t we? And this stuff so often gets piled up in the basement. In some cases we don’t know where else to put it, so it goes in the basement. In other cases, we just don’t know what to do with it, but we cannot bring ourselves to get rid of it.

Almost four years later we are considering another move. This move will see us downsize significantly. So I have decided that over the coming months I will finally get rid of material possessions I simply am not using any longer. First place to start? The BASEMENT!!!

I venture downstairs and over to the corner of the basement where I have my ‘stuff’ piled. I start to rummage through the boxes of memorabilia and other ‘stuff’ that I have not touched since the day I moved into this home. Some of the ‘stuff’ brings back memories. Other ‘stuff’ I simply cannot believe I have kept it hanging around.

First, I decide to give away the ‘stuff’ that still has a lot of life left it in and someone else may enjoy using. This turned out to be quite easy, and quick. Next, I turned my attention to memorabilia that had been in my life for many years. What to do with it? It was memorabilia and no one else would relate to it as I do. Or do I?

When I looked at this memorabilia that had been sitting in the basement, collecting dust, for almost four years, I realized that’s where this ‘stuff’ had always been…in the basement of wherever I was living. If it wasn’t a physical basement, it was in a closet, or stored somewhere else. But it wasn’t being used or referred to, ever. It was just sitting there. So I decided…out it goes!

I was surprised at how easy it was to let it go. I was very aware of all the memories there were attached to the memorabilia, but it was surprisingly easy to let it go, once I actually decided to let it go.

As the last boxes were carried to the roadside for pick up by the city’s garbage collection services, I felt a great release from a patterned behavior that had been with me for most of my life—the idea of holding on to things that no longer served me.

The whole process of purging my material possessions felt remarkably freeing and was a metaphor for freeing myself from personality traits and character dynamics that no longer served me. If my inner work has taught me anything, it has taught me how desperately we cling to and hold on to our ‘stuff.’ We pile this ‘stuff’ up in the basement of our psyche. Sometimes we forget we even put it there. Sometimes we don’t know where else to put it. And sometimes we don’t know what to do with it, but we simply don’t want to let go of it. Afterall, it would mean letting go of the very person we think we are.

I still have some cleaning out to do (don’t we all!), both material possessions, and personal ‘stuff,’ but it’s far more enjoyable than I could have imagined.

What ‘stuff’ do you have floating around in your life? What are you storing in your basement that is no longer serving you? Do you want to free yourself of this ‘stuff?’ If you are having difficulty letting go of your ‘stuff,’ what is holding you back? What are you afraid of?

All love and blessings from a happy and contented purg-er…

Shanti, Namaste, Agapé,