I think so many of us have had that, and usually what follows is a regret or a statement where the lesson is – you see never throw anything out! There’s the proof.
I am not coming to this conclusion. In fact, the opposite.
Recently, in our GEMs membership for this month’s making project, I had the experience of needing my felted sweaters that I had felted years ago (on purpose, I might add). We are cutting felt into these sweet heart shapes, stuffing them with roving and lavender and blanket stitching them closed with embroidery floss. Weirdly addicting I have found.
However, in the last few years I have “cleaned up” meaning I have given away boxes and boxes of art supplies, whole workshop totes with everything someone will need to do all the things I used to do. I was happy to be giving them to a special woman who was running an afterschool centre and I knew that everything would be used – it helped me stay motivated to fill the car several times and drive it there. I must say I felt “lighter” for it.
Years ago, I read a book called Clearing Your Clutter with Fengshui. I remember reading it until midnight and waking up before the girls the next morning and clearing the pottery bowls that were sitting atop the kitchen cabinets. You see we lived in a townhouse in North Vancouver that was so tiny (by Canadian standards), 734 square feet including the outside patio. I can’t remember the Fengshui reason for that. I do remember this: have clear spaces on your bookshelf – which you can fill with a vase, but not a book because you want to be open to new ideas and if your bookshelf is full – it will mean that you are not open to new ideas, new learning. I like that. I have thought of it often. Although our book shelf is full at the moment, but my learning new things is quite full too…it’s all on line or through memberships and courses.
There is the John Burroughs quote: “leap, and the net will appear” which is really what my clearing was about. I wasn’t sure what I was doing next. Since I don’t believe you can ever go back, I really was letting go and creating space on my bookshelf, my life, for new things to appear.
They have.
I don’t think I could have gotten to this place in my business or my life for that matter, if I had continued to be weighed down by the “old ways” I was thinking and doing things.
My Dad knew an artist who had packed everything he owned including his art supplies and his art into his car to drive west to start a new life after his divorce. When he got here, his car had been stolen and everything was gone. Gone, gone. And so, he was forced to start again. Of course, his art changed. Was it better for it? I don’t know. I never met him.
Instead of going to a vintage place and finding a wool sweater that I could felt (although I no longer have a top loading washing machine which is preferable for felting), I went to my local wool shop and bought wool felt and colourful embroidery thread for this project in the yummiest of colours. Together with the embroidery threads that I had, I have had a couple of lovely evenings sitting trying out new things…new freehand embroidery…no pattern…no idea in mind…. just the freedom to see what was going to happen.
I would not have played with these new colours or perhaps used them in this way if I simply sewed together what I had albeit in its vibrant Valentines red.
What do you think about this?
Oh and so that I am fully transparent…I still have a cabinet full of fabric, totes of wool, boxes of paper…and some miscellaneous collections of pressed flowers…. I do use these things through the year in various projects…
Do you think you need to clear things out in order to tap into new creative endeavours?
I wish you peace on your path today,
Lise-Lotte