FALL

August 3 , 2009

Happy Fall Equinox!! The Equinox marks one of two times of the year when the day and night are equally balanced. The light and the dark, the yin and the yang, the masculine and the feminine – all sharing a balance of tension.
Fall is a time of shedding what is no longer needed, and making room for the dreams of winter. Here in America, where storage companies are the fastest growing business around, we are drowning in stuff. Stuff we used ten years ago and hang onto because we might use it again. Stuff we bought because we thought we would like to be the kind of person that “did that”, and are hanging onto it in the hopes it will inspire us to “do that.”

Yet all that stuff is keeping us from receiving true abundance. Those of you who have too much stuff know that you do not own it – it owns you. Much of your energy is spent, without your conscious awareness, maintaining and storing all those things. Is it any wonder we are experiencing an economic crisis? The world simply cannot supply us with enough energy to keep creating and storing things in which we do not have a present moment relationship. We have a finite capacity for present-moment relationships; and that includes our possessions. If we are filled to the brim with things from our past, how in the world can we be fluid enough and open enough to receive the magical abundance the world is bringing our way today?

You may have noticed that time seems to be speeding up. Remember those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer twenty years ago? Ten? Five? And how now it seems that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done? I used to think it was because we WERE speeding up – that as we moved closer to the singularity of 2012, much like approaching a black hole, we were moving faster and faster, and that once we hit the event horizon of Winter Solstice, we would pop out into another reality. This week I heard a lovely explanation from Jim Self, teacher of the Alchemy series. He said we are moving into the NOW of time. What that means is that past and future are disappearing, and there is only NOW. I loved that explanation, because it helped me understand why it was so important to let go of anything that I was not willing to invest time and energy into today, and how my past - in the form of "stuff" - was hindering my ability to act powerfully in the moment.

I recently moved yet again – while I had the best of intentions to stay in one place for a while, I found myself struggling to keep that intention. I realized the stress of keeping my promise to stay put was making me sick, so I found a living situation that relieved that stress. In the process, I let go of 75% of my possessions. It was an emotionally draining experience during the grand giveaway – so many things, so much history, so many “oh, what if I need that in a month or two??” thoughts running through my head. Yet I persevered and forced myself to let it go. I cried buckets in the process. Grief is the emotion that dissolves the roots holding us into one spot and frees us to move to another. Without grieving, we would be planted into every instance of time/space we have ever experienced. So grieving becomes part of slimming down; of letting things, people, feelings move into the tide of time and be swept away to have other lives with other people. When it was all over, the most amazing thing happened – opportunities and abundance and events flooded me. Without all those material possessions cluttering up my emotional space, I became an empty container that the world was just itching to fill up. I am being cautious of how much I commit to, as I enjoy the feeling of emptiness. But I am in awe each and every day at how my life has transformed in the process of giving away my past, and the amazing richness that has become my NOW.

This Fall, as you prepare for Winter, what can you do to create space for yourself, to receive the massive abundance the World is bringing your way? Have stuff in storage you need to let go of? Get 2 or 3 friends and commit to a progressive cleanout day once a month, where you all show up at a different person’s house for a day and help them let go. A bottle of wine (or apple cider), a box of Kleenex, some grand stories about those favorite possessions, and then into the give-away pile they go. Don’t think you could go through this process with your friends? Call a professional declutterer, or take some classes on decluttering. Professionals have no emotion around your possessions and are very good at helping you gracefully let go.

Practice the art of grieving – it is a necessary part of letting go, and your tears will wash your soul clean. In the Medicine cards, Turkey is the card of give-away. As the holiday of Giving Thanks approaches, think of all the people who have lost their homes and possessions over the past year, and how your past can benefit their now. Above all else, know that you can trust the world to bring you exactly what you need when you need it, if you are an open channel to receive.

The World is trembling on the verge of great change. Like the caterpillar getting ready to exit the cocoon; the chick pecking weakly at his shell; the Phoenix rising from the ashes - you are about to give birth to a new self. Clear out the space of your past and create a quiet place for that newborn to settle. Then watch how the magic of the World brings gifts from all directions to nourish and support your tender heart.

Blessings!

Cat

"Learn all you can, but accurately and not just for show, or so that you can be a loud oratorical know-it-all. And do lots of work. Be useful. And every day be vigilantly honest to yourself and others. And don’t merely dream. I mean, let there always be some action directed toward every dream. Because that shows the achievement of the dream is harder than you thought and then you can have respect for other people. Everything will come out all right. You will see".
-- Brenda Ueland