A Year to Clear

It is in the space between the problem and the solution where all the goodies are.

As I typed the title of this post, I realized that I am doing so right at the starting line of a New Year: 2017. It is a coincidence, as I started this clearing process several weeks ago, but pertinent, nonetheless. 

The title comes from a course I am taking online through a website called Daily OM. It consists of daily lessons, or even short meditations, designed to help you clear out your home and, more importantly, your mind and emotions. The full title of the course is A Year To Clear What Is Holding You Back.  

It is really helpful because it not only helps you organize your home, but it also teaches you how to look at all the stuck emotions we tend to attach to “things” around us.  A couple days ago, the lesson stated, “It is in the space between the problem and the solution where all the goodies are.” This really struck me.  In fact, I said it out loud to myself several times. 

The idea behind clearing mental and physical stuff, is that we tend not to look at - truly look at - the feelings that are attached to things. It can be uncomfortable to stop and actually notice all the feelings behind how and why we do things.  I’ll give you an example:

For years, I've kept a collection of old VHS Disney movies in a box.  My husband hates this (he is very much a tech guy, and considers anything other than digital streaming to be clutter), but I have held into them through two moves. Today, as I meditated on what I could let go of, this box came to mind.  For the first time, I decided to truly look at why I was keeping them.

I have never been able to have my own kids. I always thought I would.  But my life has twisted and turned in ways that prevented me having children. It is something I still let go of in various ways, on a regular basis. It’s still in process. These VHS tapes are another tendril in that tangle. I kept them originally thinking I would watch them with my own kids.  Then I thought I would watch them with my grandkids (by marriage - Tim’s kids have their own kids now).

​Today I thought it through and finally admitted to myself that this was not going to happen. Even with grandkids, no one has a VHS player, so we would only watch them on Netflix anyway! I felt the resistance thrust forward: “If you let them go, the grandkids won’t have that connection to you - that fond memory.” But I countered that voice with the truth that we have many more memories to forge with them, that have nothing to do with watching some ancient VHS tapes.

So I have that box of tapes sitting here in the living room now, ready to be taken to the Good Will. Even better, I have a peace in my heart, knowing that I processed that stuck emotion, and chose to release it. It feels really good. What was previously a sort of knee-jerk reaction to letting go, has now become a well thought out and intentional relinquishing. Between the problem and the solution really was some very good stuff.

Sharon Tedder

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