I often share that letting go is a basic life skill we simply are not taught how to do.
In fact,
Our brains are hardwired to want to accumulate and even hoard,
As it gives us a sense of safety.
It's only natural,
As it's carried forward from our ancestors and the experiences they had to endure to survive.
The irony is,
The accumulation and mindless spending results in heightened cortisol levels,
As simply seeing clutter will create tension and stress,
Impacting our well-being.
When our homes are not a sanctuary,
It depletes us from the moment we open our eyes.
We have all heard from spiritual teachings and know deep down we should practice non-attachment and letting go.
But knowing and doing are two very different things to be able to apply it into our everyday lives.
Letting go and holding on mindfully are two life skills most of us are never taught,
And we can absolutely change the narrative around it.
We actually have the beautiful opportunity right in front of us to practice every day to strengthen these muscles right in our homes.
When we declutter with joy,
Our homes become the training ground to let go with gratitude and to live a lighter life emotionally,
Physically,
And spiritually.
The method is profoundly simple and pioneered by Mari Kondo,
A Japanese tidying guru and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Our method is called the KonMari method,
And it's rooted in joy and gratitude so that we can all learn to let go in a healthy way and create space for abundance and surround ourselves with joy,
Resulting in a more intentional and mindful ecosystem where we can thrive in accordance to our unique joy.
Traditionally,
We are taught to let go and declutter by thinking of what to eliminate,
But we simply have to turn it around and infuse it with positive psychology to focus on what we want to keep first.
And then everything else becomes magnitudes easier to let go with gratitude because you are coming from this place of contentment rather than being bound by scarcity.
Contrary to traditional organizing,
In the method,
We go by categories rather than by drawers or room by room,
And this creates a simple but profound way to get a full mental audit of everything you own.
For example,
Gathering all of your shoes and putting it into one place to make positive decisions makes it infinitely easier so that you're able to choose the ones that you truly love and serve a purpose.
From a practical sense,
You will save money as this will help you to create a mental inventory and avoid repeat purchases or even mindless spending in the future.
Now how do we let go with gratitude?
It's simple.
We take that mindful pause and reflect on why we are letting it go.
For example,
I'm letting go of this t-shirt because the quality didn't last.
It's from a fast fashion brand.
I want to buy quality over quantity in the future and support ethical brands.
Trust me,
It worked for me and I am a reformed shopaholic.
I had a severe shopping addiction from a young age,
Which I now know was to fill a void that couldn't be filled with material goods.
Without the reflection,
Our future purchasing behaviors will not change and we'll be stuck in the same vicious cycle.
How we speak to ourselves is also very important in letting go with gratitude.
For example,
When I work with individuals,
I often hear them say,
I'm too fat for this so I'm letting it go.
This color is ugly on me so I'm letting it go.
I asked them to pause.
We reflect and honor that these thoughts come up.
We reframe the language by saying,
Thank you,
I now know that this style is not suitable for me.
Thank you,
I now know that this color is not suitable for me.
And this allows us to release the items and rewire these thoughts with gratitude.
The next time you're in a shop or see something online,
You'll become so attuned and will be able to make conscious and mindful decisions of what you need versus want.
What if the item holds challenging memories?
I'll give you another personal example.
I used to work in an extremely toxic and misogynistic corporate setting.
And I had these beautiful and expensive power dresses.
I couldn't let them go initially as I wasn't sure where I will end up working and kept them in case I needed this type of work wear again.
A year after I started my tidying festival journey,
This is actually what Marie Kondo calls it.
It's called a tidying festival because she wants you to look forward to it.
And it's a direct translation from Japanese,
Which is Katatsuke Matsuri.
So a year after I started my tidying festival journey,
When I was joy checking my clothes,
I came across these power dresses again.
And I was ready to let them go.
I found a fantastic organization called Dress for Success,
Where I knew these work wear would benefit a disadvantaged youth starting out in their career.
And I was able to show gratitude for my experiences in the toxic work setting.
I was grateful that I now knew what kind of people I wanted to work with,
And that they had taught me the profound lessons of personal boundaries and self-worth.
If I had let them go flippantly,
With anger and resentment,
I would have let go of the physical objects,
But wouldn't have let go of these experiences.
And instead,
The resentment would be stored inside and calcified my heart over time.
The irony is that if you want to let go in a healthy way,
You need to be able to hold on to something more meaningful.
Forgiveness is an act of letting go.
Forgiveness doesn't condone a behavior,
But forgiveness is something you do for yourself.
When we learn the lessons so that we can break the cycle,
This creates expansiveness for new opportunities to enter our lives.
Letting go is part of your spiritual evolution.
By releasing all of the attachment to circumstances or people that hold power over you,
You are being guided to reconnect with the power that lies within you.
Combined with the power of gratitude,
The journey back home to yourself will be filled with compassion and joy.
Thank you for listening,
And look forward to journeying with you to create a safe space and come home to yourself.
