I am grateful for the reminder that things change all the time and to have examples of what it looks like to accept life with grace.  I am also grateful to have examples of remembering what is important and that we can’t hold onto things thinking they will bring us back to where we want to be.  A woman I work with is in her 60’s and she and her girls have very little attachment to things—like she was able to get rid of ornaments that her children made and her girls didn’t want to hang onto them either.  She was able to give up the home she lived in nearly her entire marriage, the place where she created a family she is so in love with in order to build a new house and start over now.  I so admire that.  She is the example that things aren’t where we hold the memory, things aren’t important.  It is the life we create, is the presence in our life to create those memories and understand what joy is. 

I have been inspired by someone I follow on Instagram, specifically her house once again.  This page calls to me because she is able to do so many of the things I want to do. I am so intrigued with how the family operates and she does so many of the things I want to be doing like baking daily, like gardening, like working out, like home-schooling her kids when needed, like following the bible, like vlogging and spending time with her family, like going out and having fun being active whether it’s being on the beach or wakeboarding or snowboarding.  The parties she throws for her kids are epic, the holidays are beautiful.  Even when they do things differently, it’s still amazing.  Like this Christmas in Hawaii.  I have no idea how they managed to pull off what they did with all of the gifts and the Christmas Eve bag and the time with family.  It was another reminder that it isn’t the home or the place that holds the memory—we do.  We make the memory. 

I spent so much of my life attached to the places and the things thinking that is where my memory is.  That’s why it was always so difficult for me to let go of anything.  It’s why I still have a hard time letting go of certain things.  But I see there is real value in keeping things simple.  When we don’t crowd our space with things, we are better able to navigate through what we need. And I have another reminder today about what it looks like when we are fully supported and cared for by those around us-not just clearing out the physical mess but also the people who aren’t for us.  This is someone I follow on social media who went through a divorce and now she owns a small restaurant and does a podcast and it’s awesome to see how accepting all the pieces of herself has made her stronger and happier.  When she was losing what she built it hurt her, but she kept going and she is the better for it now.  So I’ve taken some time to continue the purge as we are in the thick of winter and I am looking toward Spring.  I’m finally accepting that it’s never too late to embrace change and let go of what doesn’t work, that we don’t need to fill our lives with stuff to feel fulfilled—time with those we love is truly the most important and that will create the way to our goal.  We don’t have to be one thing, we can be all things and we will find someone who supports that in us.  This is a letting go—and it’s all for the better.