Life gives us many opportunities to clean things out and clear things up. It's only three months into the New Year, we've only just barely gotten a foot hold on our New Year's resolutions and here it is Spring. Yeah Spring! Another blessed opportunity to clear out more and recommit to who we resolved to be and how we resolved to be it in the New Year. Spring is about being refreshed after the long, albeit mild winter. In Spring I work on clearing out the old to make room for the new. Today I became aware of something very important. I became aware of one of the reasons why I have so much "stuff" to get rid of. I have gone down the highway of life collecting things, memories, opportunities and keepsakes to fill my heart. Holding on and keeping things initially looked like wanting to remember and be able to look back with fondness and affection on the events of my life. What I now know is that there was an underlying feeling of fear that predicated this behavior.  
 

I started this behavior because after my mother passed away I found a phone message with her voice on it. I saved that message and played it over and over and over. While it did help me in the process of letting go of my grief, I hadn't realized I'd created an unconscious agreement to keep things; the activity of keeping things included phone messages, emails, papers; mail, notes, letters and cards. I held on in fear of losing it as if it would never happen again. It won't, hopefully the next times it will be more powerful, more loving and more amazing. Originally I am form New Orleans and the gift of Hurricane Katrina helped me let go of the past and move into the present with love and acceptance. Now the only memories I need are physical and mental pictures that carry the memory of that day. Does it mean I will never keep things? No. It means I will be in conscious choice when I keep them and not in fear. This allows me to live in the present moment, where life is. 

I leave you with these questions to ponder during your spring cleaning as you pick up things to throw away. Pick up the mental contract you've assigned that item and do an emotional inventory of your attachment to it. Ask yourself, "Who do I believe that I am with this? Who do I think I am without it? How can it serve me to let it go?" At the end of your cleaning I pray you will have released more than just the physical items you've gifted or thrown away. I hope you begin your summer lighter in Spirit. That is your truth.   

Affirmation
 I trust that this right now moment is the most important moment because I am present to receive the gift in it.

About the Guest Editor:  

KiMani is presently studying to obtain her Spiritual Life Coaching Certification. She is also a spiritual meditation teacher and workshop facilitator.  If you'd like to contact KiMani, her email address is: ANEWLIFE2DAY@GMAIL.COM.