“What’s weighing US Down”

We Americans are a well-meaning people. We give to others in many ways -- helping our neighbors, volunteering in our communities, sending our money to charities.

However, something has been happening with us increasingly over the years. You might call it “thingness,” “possession-itis” or, as comedian George Carlin put it, “we gotta have more and more stuff.” Our garages, closets, pockets and purses are full of things we “must” have. We have so much stuff that a whole industry has grown up around the fact that we no longer have enough room to store it at home and now need legions of storage spaces to store it.

This conscious and subconscious collecting has even affected us physically as we pack our bodies with pound after pound until we become an increasingly obese nation. And, no matter where we go, where we turn, ads for stuff bombard us: electronics, food, toys for our children, cars, extra homes. It’s on the television, the internet, billboards -- all around us. All these ads are doing one thing: telling us we must have it -- whatever the “it” is, it’s different, better, more.

Now, we’re in a recession/depression and many of us may be experiencing a downturn in our personal economies. Oh, we still have all our “stuff” but we may not any longer be able to afford those storage lockers. Some may not even have a garage or a closet when this is all over.

There is a spiritual law which says that new energies cannot come into a space that is loaded up with old “stuffness.” New ideas, new ways of being, new health, new jobs, monies, cannot get to you when your physical, emotional and mental space is filled to the brim with possessions or ways of being. We can see this holding onto the old ways and things in ourselves, our communities, our country.

Most of us know that we need something to change. What we might not yet see is that change can, and should, begin with each individual. And, we can change things nationally by making changes in ourselves -- even little ones. Change begins when we do. We might want to do great things but don’t know how. But we can start small. We can start by getting rid of all that excess stuff -- by opening up our selves, our lives, and making space for what is to come. All those things we thought we needed, wanted, had to have, are unused and gathering dust. We obviously don’t need these things. We may have even forgotten that we have half of it -- no matter how much we paid for it, or who left it to us in their will, or what we did to get it. It’s stifling us.

Let’s just get rid of it. Give it away. Sell it on E-Bay. Have a garage sale. We’ll truly feel better -- lighter, more open and optimistic -- no matter how scary it might feel at first or how naked we feel without all our “stuff.” We never know what wonderful event, person or thing might be just around the corner if only we make room for it in our lives. Of course, we might also make a bit of money. And, in this economy, wouldn’t that be nice.