02_02_2020

De-cluttering is a Spiritual Practice

I’ve noticed in recent years that as the calendar changes to a new year, my interest in “decluttering” kicks in.  Part of my motivation to go through each room in my home and think about what I enjoy and wish to keep as well as what I am ready to let go of is tied to not wanting my home to feel like it’s cluttered.

At the same time, I’m also watching friends and family members sell their homes of many years as they move to condo settings where they don’t have to worry about coping with as many chores associated with home ownership.  Everyone seems happy to give up having to shovel out after snowstorms and to no longer have to cut the grass every week and take care of other yard work.

As I watch these moves occur, it reminds me that I, too, ought to be thinking about my choices as I age.  I have not decided about whether or not I want to stay in my home of many years.  But at the advice of a friend, I have at least started exploring my options for a finding a suitable condo to meet my needs within the same or nearby towns to where I now live.  Having more information about available options will most likely help me make a wise decision.

The pickings are slimmer and different than I imagined.  I know almost nothing about condo living, and in this vacuum, I’ve imagined that condos would offer less space than my current mid-sized home.  However, I quickly learned that many of the condos on the market are  as large if not larger than my current home.  And the real shocker, many of them devote space to multiple bathrooms.  Why would I ever need to move into a space that has 3 or 4 bathrooms?

My goal is to stay in good health and exercise to the required level so that I maintain good mobility as well as the ability to care for most of my living needs.  But as a friend of mine shared in a recent conversation, things happen that you don’t expect.  Once her husband experienced two strokes within a year, she decided that they needed to move to a CCRC where medical assistance was available if needed.  They ended up moving into a retirement community in their early 70s.

I am finding that many condos do not allow pets, or they will allow one pet, and I currently have two cats that are definitely a part of my family.  I will do everything possible to see that my cats stay with me wherever I’m living.

So far, after about 12 months of casual looking, I haven’t found anything that is nearly as nice and inviting as my current home.  Many of the condos I’ve seen sport a second floor that houses the bedrooms, so I’m not gaining a one-floor living space if I were trying to avoid climbing stairs.

I had hoped I might find a suitable solution in the town I’ve lived in since moving to Massachusetts.  The condo listings in my community are very limited, so I have started looking in an adjacent town that I would be comfortable living in.

At least I have established some preferences in mind that are associated with supporting my well-being if I indeed eventually move from my current home.  I know that I want to be located near a town center as I am now.  I enjoy being able to walk to the grocery store, the library, local restaurants, the post office, the drug store.  Being near an area where other people are out and about creates a feeling of belonging for me.

Presently, I am focusing on  the positive steps that I can continue to take in order to make a good decision if and when the time comes about choosing to stay in place or to relocate.   My main goal is to just keep exploring what is available.  I absolutely love my current home and what I’ve been able to create as a living space since purchasing it.  I remind myself that it took me looking at houses for almost two years before I found my current home.  I just need to be patient with the process and trust that it will lead to a good outcome.

I know that my home is one of my key anchors, and I want to enjoy spending time in it.  I’m not panicking at this point, just sharing some of the steps and the processes that one has to go through in order to gather the information required to make a good decision.

Getting back to decluttering, as I think about future options, I also know that whatever steps I can presently to downsize will be helpful later on.  As I was walking with a friend yesterday, I mentioned to her that I was aware I was engaged in some kind of transition, but I didn’t know if I was just “decluttering” or preparing to move.  Knowing me for years, she was able tot point out multiple examples of how I was still very engaged with and enjoying my home.  She offered that as she witnessed me evolving, I was also making changes within my home that reflected how I was evolving.  One of the benefits of close friends is that their observations can be very helpful when one could use others’ perceptions of what is happening.

As I’m in this stage of “decluttering,” I came across a quote this morning as I was reading in preparation for my morning meditation.  The quote is from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book, Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life. 

“…I realized that the clutter isn’t only the objects that no longer serve us, but the clutter of other people’s

Opinions: about our lives, our jobs, our partners, our wardrobes, our weight, our children, our decorating style.  All the usual riffraff we wade through every day just to get to a level playing field, to find space for our own thoughts.  And you wonder why you’re tired?

Don’t try to make yourself into something you’re not.  Just try making the best of what the Great Creator made in you.  The sacred art of nurturing our soul is the artisanal craft of Simple Abundance.”

“The Authentic Self is the Soul made visible.”

How timely and appropriate for me to come across this quote.  As mentioned in earlier Blogs, I am engaged in ongoing work – including facilitating classes – devoted to Still Evolving: Composing Our Own Stories.  I find myself “decluttering” and letting go of the webs of containment that others have tried to net me with.  Actually, there are parallel processes of decluttering occurring as I shed what is no longer need in my living space and within my soul.

The art of “decluttering” becomes a spiritual practice for me  as I work on shedding the layers of constraint and containment that I no longer need or want to carry.  I believe this work is moving me in the direction of having a clearer sense of the ways that I can best connect with my true self, and hopefully, find ways to share my gifts with others in such a way that we all benefit.