Dear Pogue,

Last Monday I wrote you about my forth coming move, how I’ve got rid of a lot of possessions and the fact that, to my surprise, I’m finding this sort of liberating. Well that letter has provoked a number of comments and, thankfully, they have all been positive😊

It appears that a lot of people know they have a lot of “stuff”. They know, but they choose to ignore the fact most of the time. And there’s the rub! Knowing something is one thing but doing something about it, well that’s another. Most choose an “out of sight, out of mind” approach because it is the path of least resistance and we are intrinsically lazy I’m thinking. So most people have all sorts of things sequestered away, hidden but occupying space and limiting freedom.

The comments I received all went like “I need to do that”. Nobody said that they didn’t need to visit their possessions but I know no one will (except you, of course). I mean, isn’t that why God created lofts to stash away our “stuff”. Now I am beginning to wonder if the attitude we have towards our possessions is a reflection of our attitude to life in general with us choosing to ignore inconvenient things, pushing them away or hiding them deep inside? That we fail to deal with things due to the time investment required, or the effort required. Maybe there would be need of a confession or a little uncomfortable humility. So we don’t deal and hide those things away in the loft of our life, then forget.

Beyond this I spoke with a person who confessed to a number of activities that occurred in their life and were, quite apparently, a burden both in terms of time and energy. And the activities, well they were now habits and as such afforded my friend a sense of security and stability being familiar and repeated as habits are. Though they ate a chunk out of their life it had become a trade off for the identity they provided. But, despite the doubt, the activities could be given up and they needed to be given up to achieve the freedom the person knew they wanted. When the habits were gone there would be space and with space comes potential.

This week let’s create some space for new found potential. In the home take a long look at what you have. Has it been in the loft for…6 months, 12 months? If yes then, with a few exceptions, you don’t need it. Create space. Allow yourself potential. In life there are areas we just don’t visit because they are inconvenient. People we tolerate who just drag us down. Apologies we avoid giving. Habits that are just stealing from us. There is so much clutter in life! Let’s agree to start dealing with it, little by little. Let’s seek help if there is some heavy lifting required.

Let our aim become a simplified life and growing our space to allow the sense of freedom that will increase as we do so.

Wic.