The Paper Weight

Let's focus on just two questions that will help you find a focus and mental clarity when approaching the prospect of downsizing your belongings. What do you want and what do you need? Allow these questions to guide your process instead of guilt, overwhelm, fear, and expectation. When you allow yourself the gift of listening to what you truly desire, the next steps become very clear.

Have you been thinking about downsizing but don't know where to start? Let's open up the conversation about how to begin. The process may differ for everyone, but learning how to start is the crucial part. Let's open our eyes to what's actually around us. You may be inspired to begin asking what actually matters to you.

Here's a new tool in your decluttering toolbox. Learn the connection between your identities and possessions and feel more empowered to detach from what's no longer "you."

Instead of offering solutions about how to let go of what no longer serves you, I'd simply like to say, I get why you have so much excess. I understand why you feel all the emotions you do about your stuff. It makes sense why you are carrying too much. I understand and it's OK. Sometimes all we need to do is validate why we feel the way we feel.

Whatever item you own you have to manage emotionally as well as physically. Managing a possession means building a relationship to it through your thoughts and feelings about the item. If we recognize that we're managing too many dysfunctional relationships, we can find the strength to let the items go and find freedom.

It can be so helpful to recognize that it's normal to feel flooded with all kinds of thoughts and emotions when we're deciding what to do with an item. The decision making process is fraught with indecision and paralysis because we often don't feel skilled in sorting through the barrage of thoughts. A very helpful tip is to figure out what thoughts are relevant and what thoughts are irrelevant to the decision at hand. Once we understand what we need to focus on to help make our decision, we can feel confident in the process itself.

Do the items that we purchase in a gift shop truly enhance our experience of a place or event? Is it possible that we don't need to buy more stuff in order to keep our memories alive within us?

How might a decluttering process work differently if you begin by seeking out possessions that fill you with positive emotions, rather than trying to root out those that weigh you down with negative ones?

The natural world is in a constant state of life and death- the elaborate process of renewal and change. For anyone looking to understand why it is helpful to let go of items, take a listen here about shedding our skin and allowing renewal to occur.

The cycle of acquisition and letting go can be likened to a cycle of breathing. With every inhale, there is an exhale. With every thing that we let stay in our house, we can find those papers to let go of.

What do you need to let go of to find freedom? Find some quiet time, listen to your intuition, and find your way home.

With every paper that we consider tossing, our brain asks a "What if" question. If we allow this question to steer the process, we'll never be able to let go of anything! Instead, try asking yourself how likely it is that the "what if" scenario will come to fruition. It works magic.

Join me in this meditation while I guide you on a path toward envisioning your ideal space. Start the process as you let your heart create a vision for your mind to see. This is an important step in making a bridge from your imagination to your reality.

When we're not letting something go, we're actually making a conscious decision to keep it. Seeing that for what it is may make all the difference.

The belongings and papers we live with create our home environment, which in turn has a huge impact on our daily emotions. Let's reverse engineer the feelings of calm and joy when we're in our home, by letting go of everything that no longer serves us.

What can we learn from Yogi tea bags? A lot. Let go of the vessel. Hold on to the message.

All living things in the natural world have a lifespan; and many non-living items such as medications, checks, and food do as well. Start learning to give your papers a lifespan so as to help you let them go. If you can learn to accept that nothing lives forever, it is only natural to determine a lifespan for our papers.

These are the basic principles you can revisit time and again when you need reminding about how to approach just about any paper in your home.

Creating a home for all the items in your house makes the process of tidying up much faster and more tolerable. If you know exactly where to put your papers, you won't be frustrated when having to sort through paperwork on a daily basis. Decide in advance where you'd like each item to "live", and you'll never look back.

A lot of things come into our lives when raising kids; toys, games, books, art work, school work, puzzles, cards, Legos, electronics etc. This episode explores why it's a good idea to introduce your kids, even when they're young, to what a healthy relationship to their possessions looks and feels like. We should explain that it's ok to let our things go when we are no longer enjoying them or using them. It's a lifelong lesson that will set them up for success in managing their possessions throughout life.

Imagine yourself a kindergartner, standing at your cubby trying to find your knapsack amid 30 others...you'd probably be frustrated, anxious, and unsure of what to do to find your things. Take a listen as I walk you through this analogy that clearly sheds light on the first steps we need to take to help this scared and overwhelmed child inside us.

I thought I would tell you a bit about myself so that I'm more of a three dimensional human to all of you listeners. What is it about helping others let go of their stuff that feels so valuable to me? Take a listen.

Books are a critical part of many people's homes, offering emotional value and connection that few items do. However, sometimes our rooms are overrun by them and we don't know whether it is ok to let them go. From time to time, it is a good idea to reevaluate your need for and connection to certain books. Join me as we explore how to go about letting go of those that no longer serve us.

How can we possibly throw out our children's art work or first-ever written story? This longer episode takes a deep dive into a thorny area where sentimentality reigns supreme. We can sometimes feel like a hostage when we can't seem to part with anything that our children create...even if we know we don't need to hold onto it all. Let's establish a sense of what really matters most in our hearts and take a brave step by letting the rest go.

Would you like help going through months of old newspapers and hundreds of cards? Take a listen. I'm here to help.

We start our journey by looking at how our limiting beliefs surrounding paper clutter keep us stuck. This is where we need to start....