I remember as a child, my mother's ritual fall housecleaning-scrubbing walls, washing windows, even vacuuming behind furniture! While I admit I don't follow Mom's housekeeping rituals, I am motivated in autumn to clean closets and cupboards, and maybe even the basement!

 

Indeed, this is a good time of year to sort our "stuff" before the clutter of the holidays is upon us. Sometimes the collecting of all our "stuff" keeps us from living our priorities. I often hear woman, and even men, bemoan working long hours, insisting that they must, in order to keep up with all the payments due. They admit their desire to spend more time with their families, but feel "stuck" with the need to provide.

 

This reminds me of a tale about how African native children are said to catch monkeys. They carve the center out of a gourd, leaving a hole just the size of a monkey's extended palm. Then they fill the gourd with all of the monkey's favorite "stuff" and hang the gourd in a tree. Sure enough, the monkey comes, reaches into the gourd and grabs a fist full-but cannot remove his clutched hand! Will he release his favorite "stuff" to save his life? Never! And he is captured.