Marsha and I learned an unforgettable lesson when we sold our home in Chicago shortly before our move to the Great Pacific Northwest.
I have come to understand it as — The Great Emptying.
It started when we asked our realtor friend to give us some advice on preparing our home for sale.
A home we’d lived for 24 years.
His first suggestion was we hire his colleague to advise us on how to best show our home.
Well, that engagement proved to be a real eye opener.
There was nothing timid about this guy. After doing a thorough walk-through he sat us down and bluntly told us,
“Get rid of half the STUFF in your house.”
No discussion about —
- “fix the kitchen” or
- “paint the walls” or
- “install new carpeting”
He simply said if you want to get your asking price,
Get rid of half the STUFF in your house.
I looked at Marsha in disbelief, not really thinking I heard what was said. In my mind that STUFF was
- our home
- our memories
- our keepsakes
All the things we possessed that illuminated our lives.
But the realtor didn’t mince words.
A buyer wasn’t interested in viewing our last 24 years but their next 24 years.
Our STUFF was blocking their view of THEIR home.
He went on to observe —
- Rooms filled with our STUFF appear smaller.
- Light can’t shine through the STUFF.
- STUFF crowds out coziness.
So we proceeded with the GREAT EMPTYING of our home.
We boxed up our STUFF — sent some to storage; some to Goodwill; some to a garage sale; and frankly, a lot to our garbage bin.
But let me tell you straight up: the house, without our museum of memories, looked stunningly beautiful. Light poured in from all directions. The rooms looked larger.
But the real kicker was how the Great Emptying affected me. I felt unburdened, light-hearted and ready to move on —
- dream new dreams
- build a new life
- make new memories
Indeed, I never enjoyed our Newgard Ave. home more than in those last days we were living there. It had become a sweeter place
After 24 years we’d finally gotten our space right.
But this memory of the Great Emptying wears heavy on me now.
My head has once again become cluttered with thoughts of the state of our world —
- negative thoughts
- deep resentments
- crippling fears
Thoughts that if left unattended will make me nothing more than a bitter old man.
I hear a call once again to —
Get rid of half the STUFF in my head.
All too often my mind rambles back to when I found the world a more congenial and welcoming place — where dreams were expansive and I looked to tomorrow with anticipation.
In the words of James Weldon Johnson, I’m seeing the world “as some wild animal caught in a hunter’s trap.
It’s often hard to get out of bed in the morning.
My soul whispers to me,
“Get rid of half the STUFF in your head.”
Let go of your
- anger
- resentments
- fears
It’s time for a Great Opening.
It’s time to bring
- light to my life
- love to my heart
- peace to my soul
Just like in Chicago — a moment when we emptied one world to make room for another. It is time for a good, thoughtful pruning
A Great Emptying of my mind to get my body breathing again, my heart beating again, my mind out of the past and open to the good that is at work in the present.
You see, I really do want to hang around long enough to see the good, true and beautiful work being done by people who are laboring this very day.
Oh yeah, Pat. They’re out there. There is so much good happening in the midst of all the turmoil. Pay attention to THAT.
I know it all begins with a Great Emptying.
Just a thought…
Pat
💐
Maybe a good soundtrack to the Great Emptying is one I took to heart when I first moved east.
“Take it Easy” by the Eagles