Letting Go Experiment: Month 16

The Letting-Go Experiment I started in June of 2006 is now in its sixteenth month. When I originally began this experiment, I intended it to go for a year. The idea was born out of a desire to visually de-clutter my home, and especially my office, and to prepare for an eventual move. I simply did not want to have to move any unnecessary or unwanted stuff to a new place. The move still has not happened, and this is a good thing, since I still have way more "stuff" than I need or want.

From the beginning, the Experiment was intended not only to apply to material things but also to non-material things, such as thoughts, beliefs, habits, behaviors, and the like. It also covers things in the realm between material and non-material, such as body weight and subscriptions of various kinds.

In the non-material realm, I am happy to report that I have released 26 pounds of body weight (so far), 3 subscriptions, and some non-productive thoughts and behaviors.

Of the 464 "things" I have released beginning June 10, 2006, approximately 90% fall in the material realm. This means that I have released from my possession approximately 418 items. Why then, do my rooms, drawers, cupboards, and closets seem as full, and sometimes as cluttered, as they did when I began the experiment? [And the answer is NOT that I replaced them with other things, because for the most part, I did not.]

The answer came to me recently while watching Wayne Dyer's newest PBS show, based on his book Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. I heard him mention this statistic: The old 80/20 rule applies to our possessions in that we only use about 20% of the material things we own. The other 80% are superfluous. This statistic blew me away, and reinforced my desire to stay with this Letting-Go Experiment.

Chinese Feng Shui practitioners tell us that the excess stuff we have around us blocks the flow of chi (energy) through our homes and lives. It uses up space that we could use for new things (material and non-material) to come in. It distracts us from tasks we need to do and from contemplation and other inner work. Suddenly, I could see why backpacking and old-fashioned tent camping have such appeal, as does the old Japanese way of living in wood-and-paper houses with minimal necessities.

All this was brought home to me about a week ago, when at 5:30am I was jolted out of a deep sleep by the fire alarm going off in our condo-ized apartment building. I am on the top floor, and the fire escape routes aren't great, so I quickly put on some street clothes over my p.j.'s, frantically searched unsuccessfully for my cat (who had hidden behind a heavy bookcase where I could not reach her), then grabbed my keys and purse and headed downstairs and outside.

Fortunately, this was a false alarm. But in that space of time before knowing that there was no fire, I thought about all I might lose. And very little of it mattered. First and foremost, I was alive, and my life mattered the most. The other things still in my apartment that did matter to me were my cat, my computer and business records (the heart of my livelihood), and my photos (especially old ones of past generations of family and new ones of my son's recent wedding). I quickly realized that almost everything else could be replaced, and that this was an amazing experiment in letting go. Most of all, I realized that although I appreciate and enjoy many of my things, I am not overly attached to any of them. In some ways, starting over from scratch held some appeal, like starting a brand new painting on a blank canvas - an opportunity for something new to be created.

Since that day, I have decided that this Letting-Go Experiment is no longer a time-dated project, nor is it any longer an "experiment". It has become a way of life. And I will continue to release unnecessary or unwanted stuff from my life - material and non-material - until I am left with the approximately 20% of "stuff" that really does matter in my life.

If you could only keep 20% of your material possessions, what would you keep? Or, if you were exiting a burning building and could only bring with you what you could carry [excluding people, whom we will assume will also get out safely], what would you bring with you?

Food for thought.

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Email: connie@conniekomack.com
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