I’ve been decluttering and letting go of stuff for five years. And the thing is; my values and interests are different than they were five years ago, and I’m different as well. So how do you separate what’s right for you now, from what you’re just holding onto because it’s there? For me, how we spend our time; use our energy, and what we own, should reflect where we are now, not where we were in the past.

I’ve been using these two ideas for making decisions about what comes in and out of my life.

First, I’ve been thinking of it like the David/ Michelangelo metaphor, where Michelangelo carved away and removed everything that was not David- releasing David, setting him free from the marble. I like to think of creating your life in the same way, where you’re removing everything that isn’t essential. You’re carving away unwanted habits, other people’s ideas, heavy feelings, physical possessions, and releasing what’s underneath.

What can you carve away that isn’t essential to you and your life?

Alternatively, we can also approach it by imagining that your life (or every day) is a blank page, a clear piece of paper. You start from scratch, and add only the things that resonate with where you in the present moment. Take your closet as an example- imagine it’s completely empty. What items do you want to put into the closet? Would you even pick the same things? If not, maybe let go of everything you wouldn’t rebuy if you were out shopping today. It’s a blank page; you get to choose what to add.

What kind of relationships would you choose now? What living space? Would you pick different feeling and thoughts?

I figure that anything you currently own, do or feel; that you wouldn’t want to add to your blank paper life could be let go (or transformed/ approached differently). Because if you wouldn’t add it back, in the condition it presently exists, why are you keeping it? It’s the marble you have to carve away.

What would you add, and what would you carve away?

These new items are from The Soap Dispensary in Vancouver, British Columbia. The brush is for cleaning our bathtub, and the deodorant is local and made with Zero Waste packaging!