Clutter and skins
Monday is my day off. So I spent half of yesterday clearing out my writing desk. "Writing desk" is a misnomer. I have not done writing at that desk since. . .
Anyway, I was amazed at the amount of stuff that I could let go off. The trash bag filled up quickly and I was progressively filled with a sense of relief. How we can accumulate so much junk is not as important as how we could bear with so much junk for so long without getting around to doing some spring cleaning. Everyday, I wake up and see the desk. Every night I come home and see the desk. Plop, another piece of aged bill. Plop, another book for future reference. Plop, plop, plop -- "I'll clear the desk this weekend. . ."
There were forgotten letters that made me sad, forgotten birthday cards from friends from afar that made me happy. Let go of them all. It was tough work. It felt exceeding good. When I finished, I sat down at my desk (the chair was also over-laden with stuff before) for the first time in a long while. I can finally write at the desk - a new space to think new thoughts! A corresponding corner of my mind also cleared up too as I reassessed what I really needed to live today. I had allowed that corner to clutter up with un-needed things, taking up space which could have gone to new and useful thoughts.
I read, in passing, a section in a book on clearing the clutter in our homes and lives which said that according to feng shui ideas, accumulating paper or books in your home/room, prevents your adoption of new ideas. This means that you will be unable to shed aspects of your personality that is no longer useful to you as you grow. I also read in Eknath Easwaran's writing, I think, about snakes shedding their skin: in order for the snake to grow, it has to shed its skin -- a process that takes a lot of effort on the snake's part. However, if it does not shed, the old skin will suffocate it.
This is what it means to grow. In order to grow, we need all the time, to spend the effort to shed the old skins of our past minds. In so doing, we remain fresh and open to life in the present. Non-grasping means the same thing as being free.
Anyway, I was amazed at the amount of stuff that I could let go off. The trash bag filled up quickly and I was progressively filled with a sense of relief. How we can accumulate so much junk is not as important as how we could bear with so much junk for so long without getting around to doing some spring cleaning. Everyday, I wake up and see the desk. Every night I come home and see the desk. Plop, another piece of aged bill. Plop, another book for future reference. Plop, plop, plop -- "I'll clear the desk this weekend. . ."
There were forgotten letters that made me sad, forgotten birthday cards from friends from afar that made me happy. Let go of them all. It was tough work. It felt exceeding good. When I finished, I sat down at my desk (the chair was also over-laden with stuff before) for the first time in a long while. I can finally write at the desk - a new space to think new thoughts! A corresponding corner of my mind also cleared up too as I reassessed what I really needed to live today. I had allowed that corner to clutter up with un-needed things, taking up space which could have gone to new and useful thoughts.
I read, in passing, a section in a book on clearing the clutter in our homes and lives which said that according to feng shui ideas, accumulating paper or books in your home/room, prevents your adoption of new ideas. This means that you will be unable to shed aspects of your personality that is no longer useful to you as you grow. I also read in Eknath Easwaran's writing, I think, about snakes shedding their skin: in order for the snake to grow, it has to shed its skin -- a process that takes a lot of effort on the snake's part. However, if it does not shed, the old skin will suffocate it.
This is what it means to grow. In order to grow, we need all the time, to spend the effort to shed the old skins of our past minds. In so doing, we remain fresh and open to life in the present. Non-grasping means the same thing as being free.
