Making Space & Shortcake...

In the days leading up to this weekend, I found myself talking to Rayne a number of times about how we were going to be working very hard to get ready for our yard sale. In discussing why we had to get rid of things, I made a number of mentions to the fact that we needed to make some space. In true five year old fashion, Rayne immediately started dreaming of all the ways that we could fill our new space: with new toys, with items we've had to store in our basement, with a new play area for this or that. She had a hard time comprehending that we needed space just to have space.

But it got me thinking of how many years of my life I spent making room for something else...and not just making room. So much of my life up until now has been about making and getting and being and doing. And I can honestly feel this palpable transition into a period of opening and anticipating and waiting and creating space for opportunity. So I tried to teach Rayne how we needed to make space just to have space...but the concept was completely lost on her youth...as it would have also been lost on mine.

I think that creating physical space is such an important element for clarity and growth. I feel much more relaxed and hopeful without clutter in my living areas. I truly enjoy letting go of possessions that no longer work for me or mean anything to me. And recently, I'm enjoying the same clutter clearing and letting go in my emotional life as well.

A couple of months ago, I finally made the very hard decision to let go of my soap business. It was no longer serving me in the ways that it once did and it was robbing the energy that I wanted to put elsewhere. I held on to it for almost a year like a pair of pre-baby blue jeans just hoping that in another couple of months it would fit me again. But just as having a baby changes the whole shape of your body, life and growth can change the whole shape of your life.

So I let it go. It was the first time in my life that I let something not physical go without having something waiting to replace it. I felt very strongly that my life was too cluttered to see the path that was laid out before me. Almost instantly, I felt an opening so strong and so full that there was not one moment that I regretted my decision. And in the process, life has opened up and taken new directions, and moved me towards bigger and better places...all because I created space.

So we spent the better part of our three day weekend creating space around here...physical space. And although Rayne may not understand the concept of making space for the sake of space, I hope that she feels the benefits of more openness and more flexibility and more possibility. And while she was a bit upset over having to let go of some of her stuff...I think we more than made it up to her with some fresh strawberry shortcake! So while her youth doesn't always provide her with perspective of the bigger picture, it does provide her with delight in the simple things...and that's what she's teaching me.