Finding Freedom From Fixtures

After recently taking a workshop with Marylee Fairbanks (http://maryleefairbanks.com/) I have decided to begin my own "24 Things" challenge (http://maryleefairbanks.com/24-things/). The rules are simple: each day for 24 days you let go of something that has been cluttering up your house, something that no longer serves you, objects that will be better suited at a yard sale, donation box, or in a trash barrel. During the 24 day release, one should only purchase necessities-- food, medical care, etc. All other material desires should be added to an ongoing list. If you are able to remember the items on your list at the end of the 24 days, then you are free to purchase them, otherwise they are likely to have been unimportant. According to Marylee, "The clutter in our house reflects the clutter in our hearts." Are we clinging to mementos of past relationships? Unwanted gifts that we were too polite to turn away? Clothes that haven't fit for years? Objects that no longer reflect who we are currently in this ever-changing body and mind of ours? Are the things we surround ourselves with keeping us rooted in the past, preventing us from blossoming into the future? In order to invite abundance into our lives, we must eliminate the unnecessary clutter that surrounds us.

Although Marylee recommends four cycles, corresponding to the four seasons, of 24 Things each year, the timing of her most recent workshop and the significance of this period in my own life could not have been better. I will be beginning my solitary 24 Things today, April 29th exactly one year after my (ex) husband told me he was moving out. In exactly 24 days I will turn 28 years old. I cannot think of a better way to mark the end of a year of transformation and to usher in another year of abundance, love, and gratitude for this life that constantly challenges and inspires me.

"One good thing to remember when clearing out is this: If you have an object that makes the past feel more important than the future then you should let it go. The past is gone. Your present is all that need be nourished." ~Marylee Fairbanks

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Day 27: Hats

When my husband and I had been together long enough that my sister-in-law knew stories of their childhood wouldn't scare me away, she told me of how he was born with a red birthmark on the top of his head that deepened and pulsated when he would cry. As soon as he was old enough to be mobile, he started covering his head with anything he could find-- kitchen pots and salad bowls-- until eventually someone started buying him hats.

Throughout life, he continued to wear hats anytime he wasn't in school. At our high school prom, he pulled his folded up Notre Dame hat out of his suit pocket and slipped it on while we sat together in the corner drinking coffee. The ripped and weathered bill and shamrock logo suited him perfectly. His girlfriend who was off dancing with someone else wouldn't have been pleased to see he'd worn it all night.

He'd buy one hat and wear it until the inside rim was sweat-stained and smelled from across the room.  Most of the hats were Notre Dame, not for the team, but for the fighting Irishman or shamrock logo. He owned a Guinness hat once with a bottle opener sewed onto the brim. For a while he wore scally caps-- a light green plaid one for the summer, and a grey wool one in winter. One morning as I pulled to the side of the road by the train he would ride to work, he realized he'd forgotten his hat and left the car in a fit of swears, slamming the door behind him. His hats were a part of his identity that he was not willing to part with.

He would receive hats from others for holidays and birthdays. The hats pictured above were all given as gifts, never worn, and thrown on top of the white cabinet with everything else that he didn't want and would leave behind when he left. Most of the hats above would have suited him in middle or high school, but were too immature, even for him, as an adult. He planned to give several of them away to friends who might like them, but he never did. I hadn't even realized they were in my home until I started cleaning everything out for 24 things. I am happy to add them to a donation drop box where they will be of use to someone else.
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