The grace of letting go

I love pretty things…nothing unique in that. I have spent a lifetime buying and enjoying things. Let’s just say that Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel are good friends, among many others! I’m not a collector of anything specific, but I enjoy choosing objects that accent the look and mood of my home.

But now I am in the process of preparing to sell our house, and the task of the initial sorting…what to keep this time, what to dispose of…is becoming a life sort. I am looking at my possessions with new eyes. Is this a function of being fifty? I know I have every expectation of having many years of active and productive life left to me. Yet I find myself thinking of the things I have hauled from state to state through various moves because I couldn’t give them up at the time. And suddenly, a lot of these possessions aren’t so vital any more. I am feeling lighter as I look at objects I could not have parted with in the last move, that today I am ready to release.

Don’t worry…I’ll still have plenty of stuff. But it will be a smaller amount, selected thoughtfully, and with a new standard of what I need in my life.

The grace of letting go…we need that ability for many experiences in life. We begin to let go of parents when we leave home; we let go of children when they leave home (or at least we try to do that); sometimes we have to let go of jobs or relationships as we progress through life. Maybe the easiest release after all is letting go of stuff. Easier than I thought it would be! Or maybe its just time to do it in my life. Everyone has their own schedule for evaluating and re-ordering life. This is such a time for me, and it feels good to be growing lighter.