Things I Gave Away

TIGA is about giving things away and letting go, and about seeing what happens when we do.

There is the obvious: too small clothes, outgrown toys, dishes we don’t use anymore.  There is what`s past: a photo of my law school graduating class, love letters from my youth, every school art project my kids ever made.

There’s the intangible: expectations, control, hard feelings. Thought patterns that serve no useful purpose. Control freak methods of household management. That kind of thing.

It’s an exploration and a divine quest, because on the other side of holding fast, of clinging, there lies the opening of a clenched fist. A place of letting go, of open space and freedom. Join me, won’t you?

Keepers

Inevitably, when you examine things to give away, you end up with a pile of stuff worth keeping. And so I find myself here amidst a stack of favourite books, my great-grandmother’s wedding ring, a scribbled quote.

It might be said that this blog is an online “gratitude journal”, a list of things I’m grateful for. That’s a fair characterization, but over the years, every time I’ve tried to “make a list of things I’m grateful for” my imagination runs cold. Somehow I find myself writing “sunny days”, “blue skies” and “my cat’s personality” over and over.

What do I value? If I knew for sure that my house would burn to the ground tomorrow, what would I risk my life for? What have others shared with me that I never want to forget? That’s worth exploring.