A DIFFICULT SUNDAY

I don’t own as many material things as others. I don’t have a livingoom or a kitchen, or guest towels. I am the guest, but on the other hand, I am like a lot of others in the respect that I have things that are difficult to let go of.  Things that I associate with my identity and my past.

This week took so much more effort, I’m surprised I’m writing tonight.  I wanted to give up just like I do with anything and everything else, but I can’t this time.  Every time I felt anxious or my stomach turned, I threw something else away – whether it was an old bunch of notes, a trinket, or keychain, what have you.  I had to keep going (momentum is very important).  I’ve learned that I can do anything if I just stick it out.  If I threw one thing out, I will have accomplished more than I have last week.  
So, I looked through all of my items throughout the work week without actually purging much until the weekend, which caused a lot of anxiety.  Once Saturday morning came along though, I was ready to see how the next round would go. Through the nerves, anxiety and lip-biting, I managed to purge myself of the following:

·         large jewelry dresser

·         workout bench and 8lb. weights

·         costume jewelry

·         last of my school notes

·         Box of assorted photographs

·         Box of momentos (concert tickets, football passes, birthday cards, high school ids)

·         2 jackets

·         2 bags of clothes

·         DVDs and CDs

·         Decorative candles

·         11 scarves

Pictures still mean a lot to me, so scanning them and saving them in my laptop felt great. I took all the CDs and saved the songs into iTunes and listened to them while I sat on the floor.  I got back in touch with Sam Cooke’s beautiful voice, which I loved so much in my early twenties. 

Having several "clothing and shoe drop" nearby helped me let go of the clothing when I convinced myself that I was too tired to travel the hour-long trip to the thrift shop.

I still have a lot to do.  There’s still an entire wall of shoes to examine.  All of the glittery 4-inch heals I imagined wearing in the Meatpacking District have never been worn and I’m still wondering if I should save them for New Year’s Eve and other holiday parties.

This is certainly becoming more difficult, but progress is being made NO MATTER WHAT.

Throw one thing away if you're having trouble moving forward.  Don't try to hide from difficulites. Instead, you should run straight towards it. Search for it! Enjoy it! Karate chop it and search for more of your challengers!  The point of this project is not to reduce the amount of stuff, but to reassess what's important and what your life ACTUALLY requires.