This summer something wonderful happened—a one-ton dumpster arrived in my driveway empty at the beginning of June and was taken away full two weeks later.
I hailed its arrival because it offered a solution to a problem that had eluded me for years—how to get rid of debris I hadn’t been able to take to the town dump because it wouldn’t fit in the car—an insect-eaten picnic table, a pile of scrap lumber from a defunct tree house, the remnants of a bathroom vanity we’d replaced last year.
My husband doubted there was enough of this unwanted stuff to make it worth the expense of a dumpster, but I didn’t care. I was tired of looking at things that no longer served a purpose in our lives. They were blocking the view, not only of what my environment might look like, but of how I wanted to live in it. Clearing had to happen before something new could be created.
But what seems right at one point in our life may not at another. Something we label as a bad decision (and beat ourselves up for) could simply be part of a discovery process that will lead to new choices in the future, so long as we’re willing and able to throw out what we’ve outgrown, what no longer serves us well.
The picnic table, for example. When I bought it, we didn’t have a screen porch, but then, as soon as we did, we abandoned it. Dining and playing games outdoors was more pleasurable when you didn’t have to fight off the mosquitoes and the no-see-ums. The first few years the table sat there, it didn’t really matter, but around year three it started to decay, until it reached the point where anybody could see it wasn’t being used. At some point it went from a garden variety eyesore to an impediment.
So what took me so long to get rid of it, along with all the rest?
Looking at the sort of stuff that wound up in the dumpster, I realized that much of it represented an investment in how I had wanted to see myself at the time I bought it, and though the investment had long since ceased to show a return, it was hard to let go of the part of me that clung to the identity I associated with it.
The same thing happens for a person who, after some number of years in a job or profession, ceases to feel fulfilled or happy in it. When he thinks about all the money, time and energy he’s invested in the education and experience needed to prepare for a particular career track, he’s likely to think there’s something wrong that he should feeling that way.
But what seems right at one point in our life may not at another. Something we label as a bad decision (and beat ourselves up for) could simply be part of a discovery process that will lead to new choices in the future, so long as we’re willing and able to throw out what we’ve outgrown, what no longer serves us well.
It is when we take action to offload the things that stand in the way of new possibilities that creativity can begin to flow into the vacant spaces.
Bev, a superb article! I could relate to every aspect of it. Well written and spot on.
The last paragraph says it all! recycle, remove, reinvent. Your world becomes lighter in all aspects.
Bev what a wonderful observation about how we collect things that have meaning to us at a certain time in our lives and how we need to understand how we grow and mature requiring a “dumpster” to move on in our lives.
Too many people hang on in a job that meant something to them before but really has become meaningless now. Life is not a dress rehearsal. Get the dumpster out if you are disengaged at work!
Thanks Bev.
Thank you, Beverly, for this article. Many of your posts speak right to the heart of the matter–my heart, that is. I have a part-time job now that is a perfect fit for my schedule, but one in which I am unhappy. I honestly don’t know how to let go of this daily grind that has sucked up 11 years of my life. To not have it would mean no money at all, but could clear my life for something more enjoyable. Your blog gave me hope that, perhaps, there is something better.
Healing with a Dumpster! Absolutely. Bev, your words reflect how life is a moving meditation when we apply reflection and principles to the way we live. I’m about to embark on my summer cleanse which happens every year before renters take over our home. Each year is an opportunity to take stock of what happened and where we are now. I’m always filled with appreciation for the abundance even though at times I’ve found that we had too much. This realization has led me to be really conscious with my acquisition of things – applying the questions – how shall I live, will this bring me or my family closer to health, healing, joy and freedom? Ultimately, the dumpster represents freedom or really, the clear view when the dumpster is gone. I appreciate the picnic table too and then the screened in porch – all efforts to live in shared celebration of togetherness, pause and peace.
I’ve recently switched from gathering to purging in my life, and it really is cathartic. We all have so much physical stuff that we’ve gathered, and even if we haven’t thought about it for years we are reluctant to release it when we open that old box. But it weighs on the soul, not to mention cluttering our lives. And it is really embarrassing, when so many have so little, that I have an entire room of my house filled with things that I never use, never touch, never even really think about.
In addition to letting go of the image we have of ourselves, we must switch our attitude from scarcity to abundance. We really lack for almost nothing in the material realm – if anything we suffer from a corpulence of clutter. To let go of those material things and focus on our spirit is transformative, and posed against the culture of consumerism it’s downright subversive.
This issue really strikes a positive chord with me, at so many levels. I, too, am in the process of purging worn out objects,as well as beliefs, and long held habits. Throwing away old objects is much easier than the beliefs and habits, yet when viewed in the way you describe, is actually one and the same! Thank you, Bev, for once more showing me a new way to look at an old problem. I enjoy these monthly newsletters so much because of these wonderful insights. Now to start purging…..