Being Light

I think..no I believe there is this unconscious link between your aspirations and the Universe. Sometimes we just haven’t made our minds up to what we want however the Universe knows exactly what it is that your little heart would desire down the track. Thus it begins preparing you wayyy before you actually can articulate and speak out what is it that you want!

Since my recent move, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from friends, families etc. asking me why I suddenly decided to do this and if everything was alright and to the extent that I perhaps I did this on a short notice…? (read: worst jump the gun scenario ever!). Let me assure you, it has taken me no less than a good year (12 months!) to plan/decide this and a couple more months to actually get on that plane!

Anyways I was reading a written piece earlier this morning by a wonderful person I know about…stuff(!) and it got me thinking on how the Universe had me preparing for this new phase in my life wayyy before I absolutely knew that this was what I was doing to do.  I clearly remember a time 2 years ago when I was just suffocating from the sheer burden work and responsibilities. It felt like I was in a huge laundromat that was stuffed from floor to ceiling with white sheets and I was stuck in the middle of it. No matter much I tried to go to the edge of the room or find a door, I couldn’t. And it was then I came across this amazing blog called Zen Habits. I now can’t exactly find which post it was but it was about the art of being minimal. That 600 – 700 word article became like a universe sent directions on “how to get out of this laundromat” and I clearly remember that afternoon when I grabbed 3 large garage bins and went on a rampage around my bedroom. Slowly after that afternoon, I began to clear away stuff. It was a long, difficult and tiring process. You physically need to go through every little thing you own to decide if you really need it. The amount of stuff I threw out ranged from concert armbands to beautiful photo frames carried all the way from India! The de-cluttering didn’t stop in my bedroom, it extended to my workplace, my apartment in Sydney (bloody hell now THAT was a de-clutter!), my computers, laptops and to the corners of my brains as well. In a course of 8-months, I had managed to reduce my entire clearly 3 decades of belongings to a large suitcase and 2 boxes.) It is impossible to describe that feeling of being…light. As morbid as it sounds…you suddenly have the luxury to go anywhere or die without the feeling like you’re leaving your utter most personal shit for someone else to sort out.

When I decided that it was time to take a break and finally do this trip, I was ready. I didn’t have to think about my belongings or which storage will I put my things in or for how long etc. I was literally free from the things that tie one down. And since then I have also tried to live as minimally as I can. You may dismiss this as wishy washy new age fad but its one that’s making me feel extremely light and free..

I have some simple rules I follow these days –

1. Discard anything immediately that you know you won’t need in the next 2 weeks. (chances are they will get expired and you’ll never use it again.)
2. Do NOT collect any boxes. (I have a thing for boxes!)
3. Everything has a place and spot. Put things back where they belong.
4. Leave conversations where they ended. No need to bring them back with you to bed.
5. Breathe.