…So I am not sure of the significance of this post to health, well-being, or coaching; but it has been bugging me and on my mind a lot lately.  I have been noticing that many people have the habit of accumulating “stuff.”  I am not talking about all out hoarding and I am not referring to belongings that they need to use or furniture that is in their home.  I am talking about excess “stuff” that is really not necessary; clutter or extra material objects…

…For example, I look at my own mother’s kitchen cabinets and there are over half a dozen salad dressings, unopened, lined up.  She has boxes and boxes of rice, jars of peanut butter, and boxes of cereal.  I understand she shops with the sales, but at some point you just have to let the sale items pass… I mean, there will always be another sale!  Not only my mom, but one of my close friends from college… I went to her home and opened a closet in the morning looking for a towel for my shower.  What I saw in her linen closet just overwhelmed me; there was so many toiletries lined up on display, it almost looked like the March of the Wooden Soldiers from Babes in Toyland… all of these shampoos, headache medications, toothpastes, soaps, etc all lined up… at least dozens of them.  And mind you she lives alone.  Finally, I have been going on these home visits, as I shared yesterday.  And in these homes, where often people have no income, very little money, and are barely getting by; but I find boxes and boxes of juices, containers upon containers of salts and sugars, just so much food items all over the floor as if they were bulking up for the end of the world…

…This all has gotten me to thinking; what is going on here?  Part of it is the American way; shop in bulk, over-sized everything, save money when you buy a lot of items at once, large item stores like BJs, etc.  So part of it is our country and the marketing and sales to the consumer.  But I believe, part of it is inherently us.  One of the principles I have learned in my meditation classes is that of attachment…

…We are a society that has high-lighted and built up “attachment.”  Things like; I want the best car, I must have that new phone, My house has to have all of the gizmos and gadgets; Every thing is bigger and better and the best.  This happens in our shopping patterns as well.  While we might not need an item, or even want it at the time, we feel well we cannot lose out; we have to get that sale.  We don’t want to be “taken advantage of.”  I used to do it too!  I used to go to the grocery store and shop for items for what seemed like eternity.  My cart used to overflow with boxes and bags and things I did not need right at that time.  I would go home and unload and then most of the stuff would just sit on the shelf; not getting touched anyway and ultimately going bad…

…Now I no longer do this.  I shop each Sunday and we only buy what we need for the week.  I buy fresh items and use whole foods.  My pantry looks a lot barer than it used to and I seem to have much more room in my kitchen, but that is ok.  Why do we, as a society, need to open our pantry doors and see bottles, boxes, bright colors, bags, and overflowing items that we do not need or use?  I believe it comes down to this attachment.  And what can and should we be doing about this?…

…We have to learn from the great Buddhist meditation principles.  Items, things, are always changing.  The next moment is not exactly like the last.  As soon as you buy something it starts to decompose.  Think of a car; as soon as you get it home rust is slowly, very slowly, beginning to form and over time that car will never be the same.  The same thing is with food items, material goods, purchases we buy; when we bring them home and they sit there they change.  They are never as good as when we first get them.  They waste away, expire, and go bad.  So we must let go of this need to have all of these “things” around us.  We have to let go of attachments.  Because material items are just stuff; that is all that they are.  They are not happiness.  They are not joy.  They are not love.  They are not peace.  They are just things; clutter you are keeping around you…

What clutter do you have to let go of?  Are there any attachments in your life you can free yourself from?  How do you let go?