The After Decluttering Feelings

I have shared that the choosing to get rid of stuff, as part of downsizing our possessions in order to move long distance, (which I refer to as decluttering) has been a time intensive and sometimes painful experience. It is hard to let go of stuff, the sentimental stuff feels just wrong to get rid of and I worry I'll need the practical stuff in the future. I used to think that if I let go, I'd be made empty inside and feared that I'd somehow be incomplete. I know that makes no logical sense but that's what it felt like.

Today I want to share what it feels like after the stuff is gone.

First, it's just like when you experience the death of a loved one and you see the rest of the world going on with life as usual. You can't understand how time still goes forward and the sun rises and sets, and how everything is unaffected by what happened. In this case my life goes on just fine and well without the stuff that I got rid of. I don't miss it. Nothing really changed except the fact that we own less.

Secondly, once the stuff is gone and out of my house, I have felt only positive emotions, which is so surprising.

I used to think that owning stuff gave me some kind of benefit, but honestly when a thing is gone I feel the same and feel no loss of whatever the benefit was.

While having items sometimes made me feel secure or prepared to do something or prepared to learn something I'd need to know, the truth is I feel no less secure after it is gone. I know I can still do things that I want or learn things that I want. I will just have to use other resources or in the worst case scenario, purchase the thing again in order to use it. However, having to re-purchase something has happened only one time in the last ten years.

Sometimes I do not even notice what is gone so I can't miss it. I am too busy doing whatever it is that I'm doing with whatever it is that I still own that I never think of that thing that's long gone. Oddly, I feel worse about something useful that broke when I still needed it than I do letting go of something I've held onto for years thinking that I did need it! So if you are contemplating getting rid of something do not compare it to what happened when that useful thing you needed broke and you had to buy a new one.

As for the empty versus full feeling inside, I feel 100% complete even after the stuff is gone.

I also feel no regret or remorse for not using a thing if I don't own it. I'd rather garden than machine sew for fun so when the material and thread are gone I don't really care! Honestly I don't give a hoot that the sewing notions are long gone!

Letting go of things are are of financial value no longer hurts at all. I just let it go, there is no feeling whatsoever other than relief that I now own less. Actually the more I get rid of the less painful the decision making process is and I'm starting to feel no emotion at all about making the decision and putting it in a pile to get rid of or just trashing it.

I feel less of a burden feeling in general. There is no pressure to use that thing, like that thing, or do that activity. Poof! The thing is gone and it's almost like being given the gift of time to be free to do whatever it is I want to do now and in the future. Can it be that owning too much imprisons us? Can it be that in choosing to keep something we are actually building walls to trap ourselves within?

Letting go of stuff is almost like erasing the past and not thinking much about the past but living more in the present and thinking about tomorrow. With that comes a feeling of hope and optimism.

If that notion or these feelings I'm having make no sense to you, I'm sorry but I can't find a way to articulate it to make you understand. Perhaps this is something that you just have to experience yourself in order to understand. Not all emotions should be analyzed and over-thought, sometimes good feelings should just be embraced and accepted. Today I'm thrilled with these positive feelings. I'm happy to receive any positive experiences or emotions without analysis and without questioning them.

My hope is that anyone who feels they should declutter should not fear it but embrace the process and see what good things you experience as a result.