Hi,
This is Brooks and thanks for joining me.
It's good to be here with you.
Today I'd like to talk with you about how you're not your stuff.
So I'm a clutter buster.
I've been helping people let go of clutter from their lives,
You know,
For about 21 years.
And that's one of the things I've learned from my job is that we're not our stuff.
And what happens is the longer something's in our lives stuff-wise,
The more we feel like it's actually part of us.
We identify with it on some level.
And that can also include our activities and even the the people that we know in our lives,
You know.
We can feel like they're that they are who we are.
We identify with them.
But the thing is we're not our stuff.
When we look back at our lives,
For as far back as we could remember,
Things have come and gone.
Stuff has come and gone.
People have come and gone.
Activities have come and gone.
Some of the stuff we don't even remember,
You know.
At the time it was in our lives it was important.
But,
You know,
Out of sight,
Out of mind,
They're gone.
But here we are.
I mean truly the only thing that's been consistent in our lives that we could honestly identify with is that we're alive.
That we're here.
That we exist.
And it can be helpful in decluttering to recognize this truth for what it is.
Because otherwise what happens is we get stuck when it comes to decluttering.
We look at our stuff and we go,
I can't let this go.
You know,
Even though I'm not using it,
Even though I don't like it,
I can't let it go.
Because on some level we feel like it's a part of us.
Like that it is us.
So it seems like it just it'd be easier to hang on to it.
But the thing is living with stuff that isn't serving us,
That we don't like and use,
Hurts us.
Its presence creates a stagnant effect in our lives.
It gives us a stuck feeling.
It makes us uncomfortable.
It's painful,
You know,
On some level it hurts us.
So that's what helps to remind ourselves we're not our things.
Even the things that today we like and use,
You know,
Their presence helps us.
Makes our life a better place to be because it's here.
It assists us in the things that we need to do,
That we like to do.
Even though it does that,
It's still not us.
It's there because it helps in the moment,
But it isn't us.
Again,
Truly the only thing that we are is that we're alive because even our bodies change.
You know,
We start out as an infant and then we progressively get bigger and bigger and bigger and then we become an adult.
And then once we're an adult our body continues to change.
So on some level we're not even our bodies.
Every seven years the cells completely reproduce.
But we are alive and we have a sense of aliveness because we're here.
We feel that sense of existence.
I exist.
And things have come and gone in my lives.
Come and gone,
Come and gone,
Come and gone in my life.
And yet here I am.
So I'm not my stuff.
And this makes it a lot easier.
It can make it a lot easier to let go of the things that aren't serving us,
That are hurting us in one way or another.
It becomes easier to let those things go when we realize that's not me.
I have memories about that thing.
Some of them good,
Some of them bad.
But it's not me.
I have memories about all kinds of things.
All kinds of things that I don't even own.
And I'm not those either.
And the whole point of this is the freedom that we experience when the clutter goes.
The peace of mind,
The ease that comes when we let go of these things that aren't serving us.
That's what this is all about.
It's not about being right or wrong or whatever.
This is just doing something that makes us feel good.
And when the clutter goes,
We feel good.
And I know that from experience,
From working with a lot of clients.
People,
When they first start before they,
You know,
When they're starting the clutter bust,
There's often this feeling of just tension and heaviness.
Because that's what it comes from,
Living with things,
You know,
Protecting these things that aren't actually serving us.
And when we look at these things honestly,
When people look at them and they realize,
I don't like and use this thing,
And I can see that its presence is making my life,
It's making me suffer one way or another,
Becomes easier to let it go.
Because it's not them.
We're not our things.
Everything in our life is there temporarily.
Everything.
Some things are there longer than others.
But things come and go.
Activities come and go.
People come and go.
Even there's changes in our body.
The beliefs that we have about the world,
Those things come and go.
But again,
The one thing that remains is that we're alive.
That we exist,
That we're here.
So I encourage you to give this a thought,
You know,
To consider this idea.
Let it sink in and see how it feels.
See what effects it has.
You know,
Just by my talking about it matter-of-factly like this.
And I think that's what I want to do.
I want to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to feel it and be able to be able to see it.
Give it a try.
Try it on.
See if it fits.
So thank you very much for spending this time with me and I wish you the best.
