Dear Yogis,

What a gorgeous weekend, sunshine, mild breeze and for more than 10 minutes, perfectly designed for “spring cleaning” and I started.  I am still mildly decluttering.  I walk around the house and all I can see is stuff. Lovely stuff but totally meaningless.  I have always thought that houses and their contents are everything we don’t need, and that is why, from a material point of view, losing everything in Ash Wednesday bushfire was accepted calmly. I knew I hadn’t dealt completely with the material, and stuff would come back, and it has with a vengeance (starting with a sculpture of the buddha’s head).  It started the day after the bushfire.  I was trying to walk off into the sunset, but the world hadn’t dealt with me yet, so everything conspired to keep me – and I went with it.  One foot in –  one foot out.

My look has changed little over the years (except my hair) but one thing has not, the fact that on any day I am probably wearing one of three outfits I like and find usable in the studio and for lunch.  I have done a little there but there is heaps to go. The next step is to get rid of about half.

The hardest is going to be the bookshelves.  This makes clearing the clothes look easy.  First I have to decide what I am going to be, do and have before I can clear the books.  My dad read to me before I was born, and I was able to read by the time I was about four.  Even then I treasured my books almost as much as my brushes and paints.  I read fast with good comprehension, so I can get a book in the morning and have it read by the time I go to bed.  A student asked me if I had read all my books.  The answer is yes – and now they are friends.  How can I get rid of friends.  I love them more than most folk love their toilet rolls.

The kitchen is easy, as is the office. The bathroom has been culled but not entirely…  Now that we are going through covid the world will be different when lock downs are over (if they ever really are).  We are forced to face the clutter.  You can decide to live with it, find more designer boxes for it to inhabit, or you can chuck most of it out.

When I lived at home and did the declutter my mum used to say “Don’t throw it away. You spent good money on that!!!” A guilt trip of her making born during wars, depression, migration and privations of all sorts.  Mum even saved and stored string and brown paper bags.

When you are part way through decluttering you will be able to keep going because you will realise as I have done,  it is not about wasted money, dreams and opportunities, but the beginning of saved money, saved dreams and saved opportunities.

TALKING ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES. Please visit the web site.  Look at the home page under ZOOM or the menu under the topic you are interested in and sign up for the lectures, courses on offer.  I look forward to seeing you.

NAMASTE – JAHNE