Letting Go and Following Through

 Pine Trees and Snow Drops

I originally wrote this for The New York Optimist and it never got posted, but I like it so I thought I'd share it here since I won't be submitting to the Optimist anymore. I want thank The Optimist for giving me the opportunity and wish it all the best!

This is two blogs in one which I began pre-2010...

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Why is it so hard to let go of "Stuff?"

I had decided that, in the post travel doldrums, I would purge my apartment of all unneeded items. I was SO determined.

What actually happened was that, in my post Scotland funk, I laid around my apartment watching my Netflixed Remington Steele DVD and went online more times than strictly necessary. 

In my defense...I did get a mountain of clothes put away, as well as my luggage, and washed all the dishes that had accumulated in my sink.

In the end, I gave away a large box of DVDs, some books and a small bag of clothing.

One of the things I realize when traveling around with just a backpack and carry-on is how much "stuff" I have.  "Getting away from it all" also made me see how much unnecessary stuff I carry around on the inside.

Why are both are so hard to let go of?  When I was in Scotland, I felt as if I could let go of everything right then and there...so why is it so hard now to throw away a bunch of stuff I haven't used in years? And why is my head filling up with useless worries and stress now?

I'm going to have to think on this some more (or maybe that's the problem?)

In the meantime, I have decided that I will "purge in pieces".  Whenever I see something that has been hanging around for too long, I will get rid of it. I have come to the conclusion that I need to do this on the inside too, although I doubt it will be as easy as tossing stuff into a box.  The "post travel" me has reared her ugly head and all of a sudden I am finding that it's way too overwhelming to let go of everything at once, but because of the travel I'm finding that some letting go is necessary.


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So letting go it what I did.

Bring on 2010!

I  finally got over my post travel funk and was lucky to have a whole week off between Christmas and New Year's.  I spent it finding the balance between getting stuff done and relaxing.

Since then I've been reveling in the quiet and taking the time to listen to my heart and soul and to realize that all is well.

I've been cooking, writing, baking, germinating plants, setting up an Etsy page and taking part in a free online creative dreaming workshop at abcreativity.com.  It's been amazing (as you all know)!

 

Green Goddess Rice

 Hand-Knit Yoga Mat Bag on My Etsy Page

Twitter has been fabulous during my self reflection.  I took the chance of reaching out to one of my Twitter friends based in Edinburgh and asked for advice about returning for an extended stay.  Through the magic of the retweet I instantly made some new Edinburgh-based twitter friends who had some answers! For all the drawbacks technology can have, moments like these remind me what a gift they can be. I was even asked to write an article for Edinburgh Spotlight about my love for the place.  It can be found here.

2010 has started out fresh and new...and I'm feeling very grateful.


XO