Have you ever met a hoarder, someone who literally keeps everything they ever get?
I had the opportunity to provide some service to a middle-aged single man who was suffering with some health issues. I visited him at his home. The first thing I noticed was that there was barely room to walk in the house because there were stacks of papers, books, boxes and things that were as tall as I am every square inch of the home was covered, so much so that light could barely eek in through the windows. There was really no way to clean, move, reorganize or redecorate because there was so much stuff.
While this was certainly an extreme case of clutter, my guess is that we all have clutter. It may be physical clutter, bit more than likely we have personal or emotional clutter in our lives.
My ongoing daily. Journey and practice includes a daily check on the clutter I have in my life. It took me years to get to the point where I was even aware of the clutter. When I did gain awareness, I realized had some things to let go and some things I needed to let grow.
I say that in my head sometimes when I meditate or sit in silence. Let go and let grow.
I have studied some monks who have a practice of having no possessions. They have let go of typical material ways.
It is liberating and creates space for them to grow in ways they would not have been able to otherwise.
The same is true for our personal and emotional clutter.
When we hold on to the personal and emotional junk, much like the house of the man I visited, you may be stifling your ability to clean, move, organize your life. In fact, it can cut off love and joy.
In short, it may not let you grow.
You may be blocking the light from getting into your life and at the same time prevent or seriously limiting what you can see and experience.
Anger, jealousy, envy, hurt, pain, injustice, and mistrust are some of the big picture clutter that we carry around.
As I have been hiking this morning, I have been looking inward and trying to find some clutter that I have not addressed. While I have addressed much of it, I still have some old lingering clutter and some potential new clutter upon which i need to take proactive action.
I invite you to look inward, dig deep, then deeper, because clutter has a good way of getting buried under things.
If we can identify the clutter, we can address and create some space for ourselves and create stronger conditions for growth.
I invite you to practice with me the idea of letting it go and letting it grow.
Ready, set, grow!
The Umenum 