Gearing Up for Autumn

Today is Tuesday, September 17, 2013.

It's that time of year again, when the season is about to change, and I feel the need to sort and toss things, re-organize cupboards and closets, and make the switch from spring/summer clothes to fall/winter ones. Here in the Midwest, where the temperature varies by over 100 degrees (F) from the coldest temperature in winter to the hottest in summer, we essentially have to have two separate wardrobes, with a few basic "in-between" items.  

Recently, I was asked if I would give my grand-niece flute lessons until she can take lessons at school, so I delved into my storage area to find my old flute.  This meant dragging a whole bunch of boxes out of the closet, but it turned out to be a good thing.  I realized that one of my plastic storage boxes had begun to cave in from the weight of things on top of it, so I got a couple of new boxes and re-packed things.  A few items I felt that I could actually part with, so they are now in their new, temporary home, the Dumpster.  I also saw a bunch of things that I didn't remember I had, such as a LOT of office supply stuff.  Will not be buying anymore tape, pencils, markers, or notebooks for a while, until I have used all the older things up.  I'm not exactly a pack-rat.  I'm the type of person who buys something, puts it away, and then forgets that I have it, so I buy another one.  Then when I deep-clean, I find that I have two, or four, or... ten or a dozen.  Some of the office supply stuff is left over from when I retired from teaching a couple of years ago.  (And no, I didn't take it from the school.  It was stuff I had bought with my own money.) 

Cleaning time is a great time to think in terms of spiritual housecleaning, as well.  The physical cleaning we do is a metaphor for inner cleaning, where we can toss out old beliefs that no longer serve us, unrealistic dreams that are only using up energy, and all the little petty grievances that, if we hold onto them, threaten to embitter us, enslave us, and keep us off balance.

What's in your spiritual closet that you can let go of now?  What needs to be saved and made use of?  What needs to be dusted off and taken better care of?  :-)