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“God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by a process of subtraction.”-Meister Eckhart
I love this quote by Meister Eckhart. If the word and concept of God do not resonate with you, perhaps the words Wholeness or Truth might resonate more. It reminds me of the gifts of my yoga and meditation practice. When teaching yoga, I often remind myself and my students that yoga is a process of subtraction. The combination of both stillness and movement, as well as silence and the vibrational sound of chanting, helps us to create more space and settle into our body and heart with a sense of “enoughness”. We can shed the layers of stories we tell ourselves, including the story that we are not good enough, the self-judgments, and comparisons. From this spaciousness, we have more access to the whole and complete beings that we already are. Our inner and outer landscapes can reach each other. When there is clutter in our home and the spaces that we spend time in, our minds and hearts might begin to replicate that clutter as well.
The process of subtraction invites us to let go of the excesses in our outer lives that act as hindrances to the experience of ease, joy, and flourishing for ourselves and our communities. This is not an easy task, this subtraction and clearing out. Our culture is geared towards more is better, and you need the newest, most novel, and the “latest model” of everything. Our world values speed and efficiency as well as surplus. We are encouraged to utilize storage units to keep excess items for a later date, when we can then fill up the larger space we move into.
WHAT IF WE DIDN’T FEEL COMPELLED TO FILL EMPTY SPACE,
BUT RATHER ALLOW IT TO REMAIN OPEN?
I am a sentimental human, and this affects how I clear out/clean my space. I attach a story to the objects in my home, and begin to believe and fear that I will lose the story that the object represents if I discard it. I can confuse the thing or object with the relationship it represents. Perfect example: My deceased father’s favorite hat and vest. Letters from loved ones who have died. Old photos of people no longer in my life (yes, remember actual photographs that take up space in boxes?) The papers I wrote in graduate school. Old journals that really are ready to be released. I know that I must create some physical and psychic space to receive what is newly unfolding. When I notice some fear or contraction in my body or heart when making space by letting go of things or ideas no longer serving me, I recognize that letting go of the familiar, the unknown can be scary. And I also remember that I can TRUST that what is yet to come can be welcomed more readily with some cleared space.
I am beginning to see that clearing out is not necessarily about getting rid of something but more about honoring the life and story that it once held so that I may be open to honoring what is yet to come. This clearing requires a softening of self and a sense of humility. In 12- Step programs, we speak of “Cleaning our side of the street” or “cleaning house” as a step on the path of recovery. Both speak to the importance of acknowledging our part in conflicts with others, or actions /words that may have caused some harm. And then, most importantly, the action step of making it right. This sense of “clearing space” also allows us to release shame and resentments that might be attached to past behaviors. So really, clearing space is SO MUCH MORE than emptying boxes of photos, or dusting under the couch and behind the fridge. It is an invitation for renewal and opening our hearts and being open to the blessings already on their way.
Some Questions to consider:
● What is one place in your life that is most cluttered and needs to be cleared? This could be material objects or mental clutter.
● What is the most challenging clearing out/cleaning you can imagine? What makes it difficult/ what are the obstacles? (Sometimes our emotional attachments make it challenging to get rid of objects that no longer serve us.)
● What is the story connected to the objects you struggle releasing or letting go of? Is there a new story that could emerge when you release the objects you are clinging to?
I will leave you with this beautiful poem, as well as a song to offer some inspiration on the idea of clearing/emptying.
Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.
by Martha Postlethwaite
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