Declutter and Let Go
I have felt a strong pull lately to start decluttering my home....my life. Since I have summers off I have time to give attention to all that’s been neglected. The busyness of life has kept me from tending to some of the every day things that have piled up. I’ve been pretty good about going through my mail daily and have been able to maintain my goal of staying current and not having any piles of mail to go through.
My pantry, on the other hand, did not fare so well. I had expired mixes for GF pancakes I thought I would make, expired chickpeas for hummus I never got around to making, beans too old to safely eat…you get the idea. I found cooking oils that I have eliminated from my diet yet bottles still sat on the shelves.
Boy did I discover things about my shopping habits!
So this process of cleaning out my pantry took a little bit of time…. I emptied all 5 shelves and started going through everything - checking the dates. How has it been that long since I bought this? Where did the time go? I had a garbage pile and a recycle pile. I ended up putting contact paper down after I cleaned each shelf to make it look prettier. The paper was also old since it was not sticking very well! I had to use thumb tacks (remember those? I had those lying around too!) to keep it in place and the hammer would bend the tacks and I went through quite a few! Good! More things I’m using up and not storing! That saying that things get worse before they get better was evident.
This took up most of my day - in between a few phone calls and someone dropping by. It was a job that once I started there was no going back. I had to finish - I literally had stuff all over the place waiting to go back on the shelf. So making more space felt freeing. And it kept my mind focused on something and not distracted. In my life, making space leads to finding time to create and more time for fun. It allows room for something new to come in.
I am feeling the need to let go of what I am no longer using. Reorganizing my kitchen after being so busy with work and promoting my new CD, felt so great to have it orderly and left with only what I actually needed. I do cook almost all of my meals - I do very little dining out. 
As I learn how to prioritize my day to day life more, I’m seeing how I don’t always want to face or tackle something and then it piles up, And when I slow down more and remember they “why” behind what I do or want to do, I see this is an ongoing process I will need to incorporate.
Schedule it in like everything else.
I have been listening to Nick Keomahavong on YouTube. He’s a Tibetan Monk who shares about the monk lifestyle and their teachings. These have been really good for me right now. Decluttering makes my life easier. I have less choices to make, less time spent on unimportant things or maybe just getting clear on what’s important and what’s not.
I have kept myself surrounded - possibly to feel full or mistook it as abundance but now I’m wondering if the opposite is true…as they say less really is more. I can shop as I need things rather than stock up. I can have more time to create when thing’s aren’t physically cluttered and my mind less active.. Pretty hard to write songs when I see all the stuff to do. Some things I just hung on to because I did not know what to do with them - like my journals. I didn’t want to just throw them away but have I re-read any? Not in a very long time…it’s time to let go. I think I will ceremoniously burn them and send them into the universe in gratitude as I make room for what’s current and coming my way.
I don’t have to hang on to everything. I’m feeling ready to let go...