This post originally ran on January 12, 2019
Every month, our local thrift store calls and asks if we have any donations, and every month we say, “Sure, we’ll leave a bag on the porch for you.” It forces my husband and I to walk through our entire house every 30 days, dig through all our closets, and ask ourselves what no longer works, what we’ve grown tired of, or what we’re never actually going to use though we keep thinking we might.
What if we artists and entrepreneurs did that every month in our workspaces too? What if we looked around and said, “What’s just cluttering up my office, what am I keeping around because I think I should, what am I holding onto that no longer serves me?” Sometimes it feels great to toss something into that donation bag, other times it’s hard to let go. Release isn’t always easy, but it keeps us growing.
And what if once a month we took stock of what’s cluttering up our minds? What old worries do we need to turn loose, what obligations do we need to reconsider, what assumptions do we need to test? What did we learn about ourselves or our art in the past month that frankly changes everything? And how do we need to rearrange our thoughts to support our new directions? You can write down those old beliefs or goals that have been burdening you and set them on fire, you can journal about what you plan to do differently, you can call an accountability partner and speak your new notions out loud, or you can just close your eyes and imagine those thoughts or directions floating away. I’m committing to doing this every month during my meditation.
It’s taken me a long time to realize just because I’ve done or believed something most of my life, doesn’t mean I need to anymore. That’s not to say I was ever wrong to do it or think it or that I need to regret it. It just was. And now it’s not.
Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting or dismissing, it just means embracing something that feels better now. Because now is where we are and the start of where we’re going.
By Teresa R. Funke
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