The Heady Stuff of Letting Go of Stuff

February, 2010, seems to be filled with the stuff of letting go of stuff – which is a good thing because 2009 was a year thoroughly over-filled with stuff, at least in my opinion.

Of course, letting go does create spaces for more stuff . . but let’s save that part of the equation for another time.

Stuff. My stuff. Your stuff. Their stuff. The stuff of politics, world affairs, religion. Family stuff. Community stuff. Wanting stuff. Needing stuff. Judging ourselves and everything else based on stuff.  Anger stuff. The stuff of big banks and little portfolios . . Belly-up stuff. High stress stuff. Health care stuff. Inside stuff. Lost in transition stuff. Old romance stuff. Memory stuff. Guilt stuff. Tired and fed up stuff.

Just way too much (stuff), don’t you think?

But it piles on, doesn’t it. It piles. We accumulate. And as the days and years go by, stuff seems to overtake our lives. In fact, if we let it, the stuff we love and hate and do our best to tolerate can completely drown out our sense of who we are in the world. And that’s just not healthy.

The Power We Give To STUFF

Stuff. It seems so innocuous at first glance. You kind of have to wonder how it gains so much power over us.

I mean, just think of it: We’ve actually been known to go to war over STUFF! Mostly ideology stuff, but STUFF none the less.

Stuff. We compete for it. We begrudge our lack of it, and judge ourselves and our accomplishments on our ability to acquire it.

In some cultures, a woman’s value is determined by it. (Talk about the depths of the ridiculous!)

Really, think of it. People from foreign lands risk their lives to get here, so they can have just as much stuff as we do. And most of the stuff that we have and they want is from somewhere else. And that’s just the physical side of stuff!

And we all do it. We do it to ourselves and to each other. We’ve built a whole culture on the accumulation and consumption and waste – of stuff.

I sometimes wonder if we see ourselves reflected in our stuff . . or if the only way we CAN see ourselves is in our stuff. If so, it can’t be a very pretty picture . . kind of gappy and incomplete. And if that’s how we see ourselves, how are we to see anyone or anything else clearly?!

There too, if our picture of ourselves and everyone and everything else is filled with holes, I wonder if our perspective of the world is so fogged up with stuff that we don’t really see the world at all. Or, if we do see it, it’s through that same incomplete lens.

World? What world?

Let’s face it: Stuff can really distort one’s picture of reality.

No wonder things are such a mess!

That’s not to say I’ve not been an accumulator off and on over the years. Stuff is hard to avoid. And, accumulation is a national past time.

Guess I’ve moved often enough to lose fascination with most of the stuff people like to haul around, however. Either that, or I’ve hauled my piles of stuff around often enough to recognize when enough stuff is enough.

Oh, but I’ve accumulated other – more inner directed – stuff over the years . . much of it not all that great for my long term well-being. (That’s the kind of stuff I’m focusing on letting go now.)

You too? It happens without our even trying. In fact, it happens in spite of our trying.

Stuff: It’s Counter-Intuitive To Good Health

One minute we’re born – pure as the driven snow – stuff-free. The next, we’re filled to the gills with judgments, beliefs, thoughts and assumptions – STUFF – that do far more to tear us down than to support us. And we hold our stuff up against everyone else’s, and dare them to blow our house of stuff down.

Totally counter-intuitive for a healthy life.

What do you imagine might happen, though, if bit by itty-bit we started peeling off the inner layers and the outer hangers-on of stuff? After all, they’re just stuff.

What  – or who -do you think we might find hiding under all that stuff? Could be kind of interesting to experience our lives “un-stuffed, don’t you think?

I mean, at the very least, we’d end up with great big smarmy piles of stuff we no longer need . . and much tidier and less stressed lives that we do.

Stuff Yard Sale!

After all, my stuff is obviously more impressive, important, and valuable than yours, right?

Oooo, or we could trade stuff.

Then again, some stuff is more inner bonfire material than outer exchange. And some is best left behind for human nature to deal with.

What do you say? Is your stuff taking up too much room in your life for your life to breathe?

Is too much stuff piled on the stuff of your hopes and dreams?

Isn’t it time to let some stuff go?

Tell you what: I don’t want to push you into something you may not be ready for. Would it help to have a couple other opinions on stuff?

This week, people – bloggers – are starting to talk about the stuff of letting go of some of the stuff. Here are two I respect that you might want to check out.

Ronni Bennet’s decided to move from Portland to Portland, which means she’s looking to unload a serious quantity of stuff. After all, what’s the sense of hauling unnecessary stuff the whole way across country. (I’ve done that. Not only is it expensive at the front end, the unpacking and rearranging of stuff you could just as easily have left behind can be maddening.)

And over at Goodlife Zen, guest poster Tony Teegarden has turned “stuff” into the name for STUFF! And that’s 20 times bigger than stuff all by itself. He’s gotten all heady about it, and made S.T.U.F.F. downright memorable.

So check those two posts out, and see what you think. Personally, I think they’re both full of great STUFF!

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I’d love to hear your stories of stuff, and how you’re creating a life without its being such a major influence. Let me know how you’re doing in your relationship with stuff – both the inner and the outer versions.

And, keep growing my friend,

Gail

Tagged as: assumptions, beliefs, Goodlife Zen, judgments, Letting Go, picture of reality, Ronni Bennett, stress, STUFF, well-being