A woman shared with me that as she was rumbling through her holiday boxes to decorate, she found stacks of boxes. She opened them. Over and over she kept hearing herself ask, “Why did I save this concert ticket, these match boxes, this writing, those papers?”
Long story short, what she found about herself is that she is ready to let go. At the time, those goodies mattered as memories. Now, as she said, “I don’t need the stuff to remember. I need open, empty space, to begin anew.”
During the holiday break from work and routine, she also found herself ready to downsize her living space.
I asked her if anything in the boxes made her tearful, “Yes, the things that will be no more and the joy that those brought me at that time.”
She has begun the journey, again, of getting to know who she is and who she isn’t. What she will need to gather for inside and outside resources as she steps up for change.
I get so excited when someone wants the support to explore. I asked her if there were moments that she was torn about tossing or keeping something from the boxes. “I easily let go of some things and others I tossed quickly so I wouldn’t over think. I kept remembering that I have it all within, and stacking it up to only to unstack wasn’t necessary today. There were things I needed to leave and come back to another day.”
What surprised her was how much easier it was to toss than she thought it would be. She is sentimental. She also realized that she has a good month of cleaning out, working maybe an hour a day, to clear her space. She felt vulnerable with not knowing what’s next and made that unknown OK for today.
A big reminder that I shared with her and now you is there may come a time in your life when your inner world has a deeper meaning than the size of your outer world. Begin the cleanup. Allow yourself to explore more of who you are today and who you want to grow into as you hopefully pull up patience and self-love during a change. Ask for help.
Take good care.
Natalie
Natalie Caine M.A.
Life In Transition, What’s Next?
Empty Nest Support Services
(800) 446-3310 or (818) 763-0188
Los Angeles
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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org
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