The Doctor is in, more good advice from my mom, Dr. Linda Edelstein
I’ve been invited back to my favorite blog to talk about simplifying your life. The timing for this topic is perfect. We are entering a month long spree that ought to be named, “Adding Excess to My Life, to My Hips and to My Credit Card Balance”. The binge begins this week and continues through the remainder of 2015. You don’t even have to know how to read (you can just look at the pictures) to be swept up in the frenzy of consumption. You are being begged to go on a bender strangely titled “Black Friday” (an inexplicable name for the busiest shopping day of the USA year). Buy, Buy, Buy.
I am here to make the opposing argument. I expect to be contacted by Homeland Security for being unAmerican. My response to exhortations of Buy, Buy, Buy is DECLUTTER (which I write only once to avoid cluttering the page). Instead of getting your pleasure from dragging home bags of must-have items, try finding joy in unloading the stuff you already own.
You have too many things that you don’t need, that no longer fit (either physically or emotionally), and that remain in your possession (in your head or in your home) only because you are afraid to get rid of them. Before you can begin to DECLUTTER let’s take a moment to examine
The 2 Main Reasons That Prevent DECLUTTERING.
1. You believe that you will need these things. You worry that one day you will wake up filled with desire for the Winter, 2004 issue of your Alumni magazine. Or, you will get dressed and realize that life is incomplete without the sweater you bought several bra sizes ago. You will not need these things. You will forget them. You will have a happy, healthy life without them. Your 6th pair of jeans (darker than some, lighter than others) can find a new home. The one sweet letter that your former lover sent you before you found out that he was cheating isn’t really a keeper either. And, there are jean stores and other lovers to explore.
2. You believe that these things have meaning. In psychology, we are big on meaning. It is my business to appreciate, to make and to understand meaning so, if I say, don’t overdo meaning, trust me. Sure, your grandmother’s necklace has meaning but, does the soap that you took from the Marriott? Does the single leopard print sock? Does the tee shirt from college? Do these things have significance? Probably not, and even if they do, isn’t it time to make room for new meanings?
Be brave, get rid of stuff. Declutter. Make room. Create some space. Allow something new to enter your life.
Jennifer Dubowsky, LAc, is a licensed acupuncturist with a practice in downtown Chicago, Illinois, since 2002. Dubowsky earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from University of Illinois in Chicago and her Master of Science degree in Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College in Boulder, Colorado. During her studies, she completed an internship at the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in Beijing, China. Dubowsky has researched and written articles on Chinese medicine and has given talks on the topic. She maintains a popular blog about health and Chinese medicine at Acupuncture Blog Chicago. Adventures in Chinese Medicine is her first book. You can find her at www.tcm007.com.
*Image of “shoppers“ via Canadapanda / Shutterstock.com
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