270: Letting Go

270: Letting Go, originally uploaded by jgandinle.

I discovered an incredible quote from Andrea Scher's blog last week: "Keep in your house only what you know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." (Upon rechecking it, I realized that I unconsciously inverted it to the positive, and I like my version better. The original version is, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” ) Chris and I have repeated these words over and over as we dig deeply into our possessions and pass them on to new homes (or the recycling bin).

While I have long been good at shedding unnecessary possessions, this guiding principle has sharpened my ability to release a lot of things I kept only because I *thought* they might someday be useful. Not surprisingly, I have never reached for any of them in the time I've kept them.

It feels so good to acknowledge their meaning in my life, and then let them go. We are clearing much space for this new life coming into our lives.