Horizons Magazine
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MAY 2004
Uncluttering to get the chi flowing, turning a glorious 52, death isn't the end
Hello and welcome to the May issue of Horizons Magazine. Is everyone doing a
massive Spring cleaning right now, or is it just me?
Jim, my dear neighbor of 20 years, just moved north to be with family in his elder years, and while his place was being cleared out last month, I took it as inspiration to do the same here. My house stays fairly clutter-free, but the attic, the shed and the garage were another matter! I had not been in the attic for a dozen years - well, except once last year to put up the basketball hoop. So, I gathered some friends and they helped me empty it out: Doug in the attic, Raven on the ladder, handing it down to me on the floor. When everything was out, I was surprised at what I had. A lot of stuff should have been donated, rather than stored, years ago. I found dozens of old address books full of people whose names I don't even recognize. I found paintings I'd done back in Miami and had forgotten about. I found lots of empty gift boxes that I must have been channelling Santa to think I'd ever need so many. Good grief, I don't even have kids! Anyway, my idea was to take everything out of the attic and put it in the garage until I could sort through it. Whatever I wanted to store could go into the shed.
BUT, before anything could go in the shed, I had to clear out the shed. I had let the clutter gather in the attic, the garage and the shed, and I could feel the chi frozen in place, unable to move past all the old stuff, old memories, old baggage. I wish I were someone who liked to clean; that's the ultimate in freeing up stuck chi: moving things around on a regular basis, wiping off the dust of the day, leaving space between objects. I'm not that kinda person.
Mostly the shed housed the belongings of my folks, my husband and in laws who passed; some stuff that I want to keep and other stuff I just wasn't ready to part with until now. (It's kinda weird when all your family fits into a file cabinet, but it does cut down on family arguments.) I donated a dozen large boxes of clothes, mostly sweaters and cold weather garb, and shoes, barely worn. I shipped boxes of photographs to family and friends. I find that some sentimental items I need to hang on to until it feels right to let them go, not everything am I prepared to just chuck and be done with. I called a few friends who had items stored in my shed and told them it was time to move it all out. I made plenty of room for the items that would be coming from the garage and attic, and I felt much lighter and freer after I'd done so. It feels good to be free of stuff I haven't used in years. And in the end, I didn't need to store anything I'd had in the attic, nor anything from the garage, so I had all sorts of extra room. I could waltz in my shed now if I wanted to! Now it might actually become the studio/workshop it was meant to be in the first place. We'll see...
I made use of several giant plastic bins that ChaCha's husband John gave me, and created shelves to house them. I pulled out all the unstable old fiberboard or metal shelves and put new shelves in their place. I noticed my garage door opener, circa 1984, looked a little rickety, so I tightened all the screws and fittings, and WD40'd everything that moved. Good as new!
The next project for the garage will be to go through the tool & part desk and toss out what I can't use, and get small containers to sort screws and washers and nuts and bolts and nails into. It feels great to be so organized!!! This was my present to myself for my 52nd birthday in April. 52 ~ that cracks me up. I sure don't feel 52, I feel like a 20 year old embarking on new adventures.
In addition to the clearing out, in the last month I completely renovated my living areas. I got rid of a recliner couch that I'd slept in the past 3 years, and bought a small chaise lounge - my fainting couch Suzie Miller calls it. I'm happy to have more room in the living room, the old couch was so big and I was the only one on it, so it ended up filled with proofreading, books and cats.
I figured it was about time I started back sleeping in my bed again; since the car accident in Sept 2000, I'd been sleeping in the recliner to support my neck. Now my neck is fine and I was spending too much time on the couch, so it was time to take away the temptation. I got to where I felt I was losing energy when I was sitting on the couch. I'd be tempted to turn the television on while I was there; another activity that I felt caused me to lose energy. It's one thing to make a choice and say, "I'm going to sit here and relax and vege out in front of the tv for a few hours." It's another thing to not plan your day (or week... or life...) and find at the end of another long day that you've done none of the productive things you wanted to do, because it was the path of least resistance to stay in the couch and channel surf for hours on end. And eat bon bons :)
I'm finding as I get older that I've got some behaviors that are trying to engrain themselves, such as avoiding bending over or squatting or stooping down, and reaching and climbing. I want to make myself do these activities every day, so that I can continue to do them well into my golden years. That's why I make sure to do some yoga every day, and I've moved the weight machine into the living room where I can access it more easily. I want to get stronger and more fit as I get older, and there's no reason not to. I have friends in their 80's and 90's, still playing tennis and biking miles a day. My best buddy is past 70 and she looks 50. She's my role model!
I'm glad I don't have the fear that lots of people do about getting older and dying. Everyone in my family was healthy and lively until their sudden passing, so I figure I'll be the same. Being a psychic medium, I know that we survive physical death and literally go into another dimension, where we can still communicate with loved ones. Maybe having experienced that so often makes me feel more safe and secure about the process. I like what Abraham-Hicks has to say about death. "There is no sense of having left behind something. Instead, there is the exhilaration about what is on the other side." They liken it to going from one room into another. "You didn't commit to be in this room forever. In a few hours you're going to get up and you're going to walk out of this room and into another, and everybody's going to say, that's just fine. And yet, when somebody makes their transition, which is no different than that, they just withdraw their attention from one room and give their attention to another room - you all act like it's the end of the room. You act like it's the end of the world."
I believe that when I die, it will be like dozing off in one place and waking up in another. Dozing off in one body and waking up in another - or formless - who knows? I feel that whatever happens, I'll be granted enough presence of mind to move through the situation happily enough. Like they say, "If God takes you to it, He'll take you through it." I've never been given more than I can bear. I've had a happy, healthy and productive life and if I died tonight, I could honestly say I had the best life ever, the best family ever, the best friends ever. And you guys - you who read this each month - have been a big part of my happiness the past dozen years. Without you, Horizons Magazine would not exist. Thanks for the juice!
Enjoy our offering this month. Hari Om.