The first step to an energetically balanced environment is to clear out the clutter!
Part of what my job evolved into the last 6 to 7 years was clutter-clearing for clients, especially closets, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on my closets as well. Since applying Feng Shui principles to my own home, I have been amazed at how much clutter I still really, truly have.
All my closets were organized, but they were filled with items which no longer served my or my husband and the life we were looking to lead. It was pretty easy to go into most of the closets and clean out things we had for a long time. We even donated our wedding china which had not seen the light of day in many, many years! I think we used it a total of 5 times in 28 years, but it is something you are supposed to keep forever and ever and ever – so we are told!
It was a little harder to get rid of things I inherited from my parents, but that too, slowly got easier and now I have a few very meaningful things instead of so many things I kept out of guilt even though they didn’t work with my house. Most of them ended up in the back of my otherwise organized closets.
Then, I hit my purses! I admit, I am a collector of expensive handbags and had at least 30 high end designer purses in my closet. There is probably a support group I should join – but that is a discussion for another day. I have always preferred one nice gift vs. several smaller ones, so this collection represented many years of Christmas, birthday, Mother’s Day and Anniversary gifts. The thing is, since I had the cervical fusion in January of 2018, I found I could no longer handle the weight of my large and fabulous handbags. So, I dove in and started weeding through 28 years of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, etc…
I was able to gift my niece with my first Gucci – that was pretty easy and felt great!. I also had several less expensive bags which were donated to raise money for a Food Bank. That was also pretty easy. Then came the hard part. I moved the rest of the bags from my closet to the guest room for a few days and just stared at the empty shelves. I kept reminding myself it was time to practice what I preach – space equals opportunity and if I need new bags that will work for me now – having my shelves overstuffed with these was not going to help or even allow that to happen.
Next step was to move them into a box, however I was very scared to let them go for fear I would not have the funds to replace them all – they only keep getting more expensive!!! I actually had anxiety and a pit in my stomach over purses – Really -this happened.
Still, I moved forward and sent most of them to a luxury consignment store. I told my husband what I was doing and that I was afraid he would not let me replace them, because he has never seen the value in them anyway. His response was quite amazing. He asked what handbag I still “coveted” but didn’t own that would fit in with my new “normal.” I told him I would love a certain brand of crossbody, thinking he would laugh and walk out of the room. My tastes have only become more refined over the years – can’t help it. Instead, he pulled out his computer and told me to order it. Just like that a bag I dreamed of owning for many years was coming my way!
The day after that, a friend I hosted a baby shower for dropped by to bring me a thank you gift – a Neiman Marcus gift card which quickly turned into a lovely little gold bag. So, by taking the leap of faith and getting rid of some of my most prized possessions because they no longer served me – it opened up space for new prized possessions to appear.
I hope this helps when you feel stuck and are having a hard time with whatever items you have which no longer serve you but that you still feel you can’t let go of. It does not matter in the least how expensive or inexpensive the items are – it is all about what those items mean to you and the space those items take up, both physically and mentally in your ideal life. I LET GO and opened space for a new collection to be created. It feels so good mentally to walk into my closet now and physically see a few new beautiful pieces that work for me instead of the overstuffed shelves which held very little I actually used. Of course I have left some empty shelves for future treasures to be housed – like I said – there is probably a support group out there for me 🙂
