The law of abundance says that things flow into our lives and things flow out of our lives. To experience true abundance, you must keep the flow going. It’s difficult to do if you get clogged up with paraphernalia.
“Messy surroundings and an untidy life reflect a weakened metaphysical and psychological state. If you are powerful, you will dominate your life, you will find time to clean up and order things, and you will want to do that as a part of your personal discipline. Mess is the external manifestation of the ego’s disquiet and laziness.” ~ Stuart Wilde
Well Equipped Backpacking
My friend, Spock (no, not the Spock), and I did a lot of backpacking when we were younger. Now, when you are backpacking, generally you are concerned with how much weight you are carrying. I usually went with the basics – sleeping bag, canteen, pot and spoon, dried foods, stove, soap, matches.
Spock, on the other hand, loved paraphernalia. He had 3 or 4 metal water bottles – in different colors. He had a dozen carabiners that he used to hook stuff to the outside of his pack. Besides that stuff, he had an extendable aluminum rod that he used as a hiking stick. And he had his camera with an assortment of lenses.
I outweighed Spock by a good 30 pounds, but his pack was usually twice the weight of mine. Of course, I had my share of paraphernalia, too, I just didn’t carry it on my back. I had a collection of backpacking books and backpacking magazines and backpacking newspaper articles.
Collecting Stuff
Collecting stuff can be a major cause of clutter in one’s life. I don’t mean you shouldn’t have a collection of _____ (stamps, figurines, beer can huggies, Christmas villages, coins, art pieces, matchbook covers, or napkins from famous places.) (The 3rd one is mine.) I do mean you should be careful about accumulating stuff that does not enhance your life. Stuff that becomes clutter.
“Surround yourself only with those things you love, use, or find beautiful.” The more stuff you have, the more time you spend dusting it, cleaning it, mending it, fixing it, polishing it or putting fresh batteries in it.
What’s Your Gazingus Pin?
In the book Your Money Or Your Life, Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin introduce the concept of the “gazingus pin”. A gazingus pin is anything that you can’t pass by in a store without buying.
When you see your gazingus pin, your mind goes on auto pilot. You forget that you already have 10 or 100 or 1000 gazingus pins at home that you never use. All your attention is focused on this fresh, clean, lovely, new and improved gazingus pin. When you finally come to your senses, you find yourself adding a new gazingus pin to your drawer that is already full of other gazingus pins. (Kinda like beer can huggies.)
Clear The Clutter
In the concept of abundance, we find that we are – or should be – like conduits or pipes. Things flow into our lives and things should flow out of our lives. If your pipe is stopped up, guess what? Eventually it’ll be full and there is no room for anything else. Not even another gazingus pin or beer can huggie.
In order to keep the flow going, you must keep things clear. Many people find that new ideas, new wealth, new relationships come into their lives after they’ve completed some major clutter clearing, either physically or mentally.
Keep The Flow Going
“Rare goods are merely weights that slow you down.” So says Lao Tzu in the Tao. If rare things slow you down in your journey through this life, how much more so do the common things, like gazingus pins?
What are some things you have that you no longer use? Could it be that they are exactly what someone else needs at just this time? Let them go to be used where they are needed and open up your conduit to receive the things you need right now. Keep the flow going. That is embracing the Excelerated Life™!
Excelerated Organization™ — being clutter-free and well-enough organized — able to find what you need when you need it — is one step in creating your Excelerated Life™, a life of flourishing, of well-being, meaning, and purpose.
Read more about the Excelerated Life.
Resources:
Robin, Vicki and Joe Dominguez. Your Money Or Your Life. New York: Penquin Books, 1992, 2008
