For the past three days, I’ve been preparing to merge two homes: the suburban one where the kids went to school and the Cape house where we all played. There is just soooooo much stuff to deal with; it’s pretty overwhelming. I don’t qualify for those hoarding shows on television, but I am amazed at how much I have amassed.
I don’t buy everything I see. However, if I find something I like, I notice that I buy multiples. Yes, there were four boxes of instant oatmeal (the big ones that you could use as a drum) and eight boxes of red quinoa. There’s a knitwear designer that I like, and you guessed it, I’ve purchased all of her books; ditto for my favorite fiction author, Mark Helprin. And if something was ever once “scarce” in my history, you can bet I have it stockpiled: 17 Bean Soup Mix, tahini, and discontinued yarn fit the bill. There were twenty wooden cigar boxes patiently waiting for me to decoupage in my studio; they ARE hard to find, you know. I was not alive during the Great Depression and don’t have it to blame for this behavior.
I read somewhere that some folks work on the premise that whatever they need, will be available when they need it. I’m not one of those people, but I’m thinking I might want to become one. I have stockpiles and stashes so that everything is at my fingertips when I want it. It was not until we decided to move that the full implications of all this came into focus. I guess it’s never too late for this old dog to learn a new trick.
As I fill up boxes of goodies to be delivered to shelters, food pantries, recycling centers and the dump, I’m determined to live lean and mean, well, maybe just lean. After I finish reading a book, I’ll pass it on to some else. Knitting projects will be created with yarn from my stash, likewise for quilts and fiber art. We’ll eat up “stuff” from our pantry and look forward to some empty shelves. Isn’t it weird to be looking forward to empty shelves?! I’m reminded of a former boss telling me that I’d do well to remember that life was very much like Chinese checkers: you need empty space to jump to. Empty space gives you freedom.
Yarnsista 
‘Do you feel like your cleaning out a LOT of old stuff? Physically, mentally, emotionally? We’re in the eclipse “tunnel” between Sunday May 20 and the full moon and eclipse on June 4.It’s like a birth canal. Just keep breathing and shedding the old. And allow the new to be received. Make sense?’
From my beloved mentor Dr Christiane Northrup,
And also from her a few days ago…
‘Everywhere I turn I see huge shifts and changes in people. Many are finding the love of their lives. Others are going through “breakdown to breakthrough” in their bodies. Some are leaving the planet. For this Memorial Day weekend I offer a prayer from @Tosha Silver: ” let what needs to leave leave. Let what needs to come, come’
I am cleaning out a LOT of old stuff— stuff that stuck like glue in the past. What do you mean by an “eclipse tunnel” I’d like to learn more about that– and where do you suggest I begin to read Northrup’s work?
I’m really appreciating our dialogue!!
Diane, she is referring to the squeeze between the recent solar eclipse and the upcoming lunar eclipse on June 4. Which probably still makes no sense, except that she describes it to be like the birth canal. I think that you either relate or not.
Personally, I am feeling the squeeze. As I wake up in the AM, in the twilight of my consciousness, I have been thinking as of late, in a slightly panicked sort of mode, What am I going to do with all this stuff?
Dr. Christian Northrup is at the leading edge of wo(men)’s health, as well as medical, spiritual, cosmic, physical, mental and psychic knowledge, to mention a few. She has a website where you can subscribe to her newsletter. She has been on the NY Times Best with several of her books. I got the above quote from her FB page from yesterday, which you can join. She follows the cycles of the planets and the universe, so usually throws a little astrology in, which I so appreciate from a Western trained physician. As I have been (semi) studying Astrology for many years, I can understand her languaging about these particular aspects of the whole.
To get a real taste of her, though, go to and listen to her archive show, which replays for 7 days from the day she does the live show. http://www.hayhouseradio.com/
I love a lot of Hayhouse authors, but hers is the one show that I definitely do not miss and can’t wait for. I have all of her shows on MP3. I wish it was possible to pass these along, but alas, the cyberways are too stingy to send mp3’s through. The latest show on the Biology of Light is wonderful, listen before her next show on Thursday. They are about 50 minutes long. Tune in the to the latest and the greatest of wisdom. Listen while you pack! Let me know what you think. Truly yours!
Hi Mary, Thanks for the information. You’ve given me a lot of good stuff to check out– love it!!!