Things hold energy
Several years ago my friends and I signed up for a walking ghost tour of Old Town Orange. I love anything “witchy” and thought it would be a fun way to experience the spookiness of my neighborhood at the time. I wish I could say it was a success, but really it was just a bunch of sad stories about how people died in front of my favorite restaurants… 0/10 recommend. But one thing the guide said that has stuck with me after all this time was his advice when antique shopping: He said when you find an object at a thrift store, walk around the store for a while just holding it and pay attention to how it makes you feel. As someone who studies the paranormal, the majority of stories he hears come from taking home a vintage item that had bad energy attached to it.
Whether you believe in haunted objects or not, there’s an important lesson here - things do hold energy. The iconic Marie Kondo talks about only keeping things that “spark joy.” Personally, my vacuum cleaner sparks no joy for me but I need to keep it anyways. But do you have something from your late grandmother that kind of just makes you miss her? Or you’re keeping out of guilt because you think donating it would be disrespectful? I have news for you… it’s a THING. You owe it nothing. You can honor your grandma by just remember a sweet moment with her or baking one of her recipes.
I’m usually good at practicing what I preach except for when it comes to jewelry. I tend to have the most emotional attachment to jewelry that was gifted, passed down, hand made, or purchased on a trip. Anything with a story really. But not only do I not wear that much jewelry, seeing all of it in one place made it harder to pick out the unique pieces that I actually would want to wear with special outfits. The overwhelming amount of options made me stick to the everyday regulars, which then made me feel guilty for not appreciating the other pieces I own. Ew! What a bunch of wasted energy on things that are supposed to be fun and make me feel pretty! So finally I went on a purging spree and only kept the items that I would pick out at a store today and purchase with actual money (one of my purging hacks). Rather than going straight to Goodwill I offered everything to close friends and family. And let me tell you, seeing my mom wear the evil eye bracelet I bought in Italy brings me SO much more joy than seeing it collect dust on my jewelry stand. And it’s a good reminder that an object’s life doesn’t end when you’re done with it. I like to picture other moms wearing and receiving complements on the other things I’ve said goodbye to.
Maybe pick a day to think through the mundane motions you go through every day. How do the objects that blur into the background actually affect your life?
Happy purging!
- Sabrina