Make Space for your Authentic Life
ARTIST GEORGIA O'KEEFFE AND HER NEW MEXICO HOME FROM WESTERNDAUGHTER.COM
Clearing out ‘old stuff’ can be most cathartic! I guess I’m in the mood after spending 2 weeks at a retreat and it feels like a new beginning is happening for me. I’ve written lately about living a more minimalist life here and so I’m trying to incorporate those findings into how I live my life. My reading is steering me to lead a life that is very authentically me, and part of this is making space for the newer version of my life. The one that is unencumbered by the past and embracing what is presently happening in my life with all its possibilities, the one that reflects me in my truest sense.
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE, HER HOME AND HER PAINTINGS AMONGST THE CANONS SURROUNDERING HER RANCH
It is a wonderful project to embrace as a family and even in a classroom – do all these possessions really reflect us as a collective or even any of us as individuals? Chances are you’ll find many possessions that are cluttering up your life and keeping them could be cluttering up your energy. There is no doubt in my mind that objects have energy and if you listen to your intuition you’ll get the feeling of what is energetically positive for you and what is not. Be brave and let your life reflect who you really are and where you are going and get rid of what isn’t serving you in that quest.
Children can easily lean into this concept and embrace the notion that to be really themselves they need to examine parts of their lives that don’t really reflect them or their values. Perhaps it’s a stepping stone to letting go of material possessions that they never use and fostering generosity in understanding that others can use what we no longer need. If you live in a first world country the reality is, possessions may have appeared that you have no need or desire for. I believe to invite what we really want into our lives, we need to let go of what no longer serves us.
An interesting concept in itself to explore with your kids is needs versus wants. The two can be very different. Some of us devote a lot of energy to procuring the wants because they provide entertainment, bring short-term satisfaction, or perhaps will bring us external validation! I’m not saying get rid of all the wants but it’s a life skill to be teaching our children, as parents and teachers to question and evaluate what we have, to examine our goals and the role possessions and our desire for them play in our lives. And importantly whether they reflect our authentic selves. A guiding principle I can leave you with from William Morris is to only invite and allow that which is useful or believed to be beautiful in our lives.
