Tuesday, September 24, 2013

A Wee Bit of Wisdom --Rhymy Style

We leave behind what we no longer require
so that we have room for what we desire.


This wee bit of wisdom came to me this morning during my personal writing time. It's nothing revelatory. It's commonly said we have to get shed of the old to make room for the new.
But the way it coalesced suggested to me I needed to remember it, record it, share it with all who happened by.
And so I do.

It's tough to do. I am not good with throwing things out. I have books I picked up at recycling that I decided against reading. I've been meaning to return them so others can read them.
I'll do it.
But they're books.
They're safe with me.

Physically getting rid of items I don't want and won't use is hard enough. Leaving behind ideas and beliefs and the notions one has held on to for years is even more difficult.
But the Universe has just told me to get it done already so I will.

What about you?
Is it hard for you to make room for new stuff, or does throwing out, sending to recycling, or even dismissing an idea from your mind come easily to you?



10 comments:

the Bag Lady said...

I hang onto stuff. I would hang onto ideas, too, if I wasn't so darned forgetful. Sigh.

Leah J. Utas said...

I hear ya, BL. I've likely forgotten most of what it is I'm supposed to get rid of.

Reb said...

we were all raised by people that grew up in the dirty 30's. Anything that can be used again must be held onto. It is hard to get rid of things, even more so now when recycling and re-use are such a big idea. Then, when you go in to get an idea of how much it will cost for a repair on something and find it is cheaper to buy new? I am starting to balk at that. Or maybe I am just getting old and broke.

Leah J. Utas said...

Reb, I get you. I'm holding on to stuff I might need someday. I hate our disposable society for its emphasis on shiny new instead of keeping what's already fine.
But that doesn't excuse me from getting shed of old ideas that no longer serve me.

messymimi said...

It can depend on what it happens to be. Books are the hardest to let go.

Leah J. Utas said...

Aye. Totally agree, Messymimi.

solarity said...

That despised saying "It'll come in handy someday"? In my experience, and that of my parents and grandparents, things usually did. I can feel my back hair standing up when people give the advice (to other people, not me!) to get rid of anything they haven't used in a year. If my relatives had done that, my parents would have had to buy all new furniture in 1946, when there wasn't much to be had. Instead, all they had to buy was a lot of sandpaper and varnish and paint.
This attitude goes much farther back than the Depression, though. I can trace it back to the years after the Civil War, and since we were never rich it probably goes back much farther.
Ideas, though, I have no trouble disposing of when they are worn out. I don't believe I even grieve over them as I do when I have to demote a piece of clothing to a cleaning rag.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

Leah J. Utas said...

There are many things worth saving and refurbishing, Mary Anne, no question.
But the things that don't serve may serve someone else.

Hilary said...

I've been purging my belongings for the past several months... making room so that I can sell my place because I knowfull well that not everything that I've held onto should be going into the new place.

What's made it easier is Freecycle.org. You find your local group, and place an ad when you have something to give away. If somebody wants it (and they almost always do), they come by to pick it up.

The whole purpose is to reuse and to keep items out of landfills. It's been a wonderful way to rid myself of things I no longer need while knowing they're going directly to someone who does need it.

As for thoughts, habits.. ideas.. I'm not so good at ridding myself of that collection.

Leah J. Utas said...

Purging is dfficult, Hilary, good for you for doing it.
I've seen items left at the curb free for the taking. A couch went quickly, but a washer didn't go at all.