All Things Have Value

As the people of Fort McMurray fled wildfires, individuals across Canada asked themselves, “How can I help?”

Donating money was the easiest option for those who had it. Volunteer time seemed most precious and challenging to offer, especially for those who lived outside a reasonable distance from where all hands-on-deck were needed.

Most people (myself included) found they had plenty in their homes that was not being used: clothing, linens, utensils. A desire to help motivated us to pack all of those gifts and give from the heart, to those who had lost so much.

I am pleased when effort is made to organize things, and a list is put out to detail what is required. I find it disturbing when ‘experts’ decide these items have no value, because they are difficult to sort through. If it’s too much work for charitable organizations to deal with, then leave out the middle man and let the people in need pick through it themselves. Only they know what they can or cannot use.

There have been times in my life when I had nothing; when used clothes or even an old lawn chair would have been so graciously received. People who are used to owning many things have no idea how the offer of one humble item can give hope and brighten the world of an individual who can make worthwhile use of it.

All things have value to someone.

I donated clothes with the labels still on, shoes I never wore, blankets I never used – I hate to think they may have been destroyed. I keep reminding myself to trust they will make their way to those who will value them.

We should not let the blindness of those that get in the way by judging things unusable, to stop us from giving.

Meanwhile, let’s vow to be more discerning in what we acquire and accumulate; to ensure that all things we have, we value; and going forward, that the value is preserved for others to enjoy after us.

All Things Have Value © May 14, 2016 | Annie Zalezsak

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Life Priorities

When people move on from their physical life, we don’t remember their possessions: the things they had and owned.

We remember who they were; what they gave to us and others in terms of an uplifted feeling. It may have come through the vibrancy of their character, or the quality of their talent.

It is the person we love and hold eternally in our hearts, not their stuff.

Yet in our own lives, we obsess over gaining material wealth. We convince ourselves we ‘need’ far more than we actually do.

It is all so transient, anyway. It occurs to me that the people we love and admire, whose inspiring words we quote and deeds we desire to emulate, are often the people who own(ed) next to nothing. They were valued for their spirit and their actions.

These are our mentors, our role models, our most beloved and respected. It makes sense to shift our own personal focus from chasing money, cars, big houses and fashion statements – to being the full-on amazing person we truly are at our core.

Let’s present this Self up front and foremost.

Setting this as our top priority makes us truly rich. This is the way a single individual can illuminate the whole world.

Life Priorities © November 22, 2015 | Annie Zalezsak

Two Suitcases

If my life had to fit into two suitcases — what would I take?

People who have to leave a place in a hurry due to some tragic event (war, fire, earthquake) don’t get to choose how to fill two suitcases. They take themselves and loved ones. All possessions in that moment have no value whatsoever. In that split second they realize who they are is all they’ve got, and anything else is either replaceable, or can in fact be survived without.

Imagine having plenty of time to decide, but just two suitcases to fill. What would you choose?

My biggest dilemmas include:

• my mother’s brown and gold striped glassware set
• 300 CDs I hardly ever play
• heavy boxes full of photos I have not looked at since I got my first digital camera
• books I love and think I might read again
• Christmas ornaments that make a brief appearance in December
• childhood toys I have stored for decades.

Perhaps all I really need are practical clothes for this season.

Do I have to get rid of any of it?

Maybe not today; but eventually — yes. Possessions drag us down. Any memory associated with an object, lingers. If the item triggers bad memories of people or times we want to move on from, it’s highly advisable to let it go.

Denise Linn (space clearing and feng shui author) says that when considering whether to keep or let go of an item, ask yourself:

“Does this pick my energy up? Does it take it down? Or is it neutral?”

“Does this fit who I am? Does this fit who I desire to be in the future?”

“Will the freedom I gain by getting rid of this object outweigh any possible regrets I may have about parting with it?”

Things we think we are keeping for a very good reason, are actually blocking us from the life we most want.

Happiest With Next to Nothing

In 1991, I packed two suitcases and got on a bus from Toronto, Ontario with the intention of staying the summer in Regina, Saskatchewan. The freedom I found in big sky country made me stay. I used to think it was because of the friendly easy-going people, and the slower pace.

But maybe it was because I went there with only 2 suitcases of stuff. I had the freedom to move easily. My slate was clean and fresh. Nothing I owned defined me. I could be and become whom and whatever I wanted.

Like Denise Linn points out, we have to ask ourselves:

“Do you own these things, or do they own you?”

If, somewhere along the line, the role is reversed and possessions prevent us from being who we are and doing what we want, when we want, then we are enslaved by them. In order to be free, we must release all possessions that imprison us with mental attention, with burden on the body, or with heaviness of spirit.

If objects are not useful or uplifting, release them. Enable them to fulfill that purpose elsewhere.

Two Suitcases © September 6, 2011 | Annie Zalezsak

Keep or Throw?

The best room in the house has this habit of being the catch-all for clutter. Things that are in transition — perhaps used occasionally, but not particularly valued enough to have its own dedicated place – go here. Why the best room? It’s the most convenient one, just as you come in the front door. It gets the best sunlight. It has the nicest carpet and soothing coloured walls. Originally, it was meant to be my peaceful, retreat-from-the-world room. It all went wrong. And ever since it did, it’s been extremely challenging to re-harness control.

When it’s time, it’s time. I forced myself to tackle it. I managed to relinquish four huge bagfuls to charity. I set aside a few items my friends might want, and a pile for the boot sale.

The most important process was choosing things I definitely want to keep for the longterm. Those things I will take far and wide, and pay good money to ship, wherever I roam.

The challenge here was differentiating these from the items that I don’t really want or have a use for, but somehow feel I should keep. Reasons range from: “it was a gift and reminds me of that person”, to: “it cost a lot of money and no one will value it for the price I paid”.

Addressing these issues is quite a mental-versus-emotional battle. On the one hand, my relationships are with people, not the items they give me. Does the object really represent the relationship? If I don’t use it, if it actually becomes something of a burden to house, move, carry, does it truly honour the relationship? Mock it? Resent it?

And if it was an object I paid a lot of money for, but no longer value or appreciate, does it matter really if anyone else does? Am I not just continuing to pay dearly, over and over, for that same no-longer-cherished item?

Reframe the mind to see that holding on to things that are no longer absolutely loved (just in case they may prove useful at some later stage) energetically bogs us down. By releasing the object into the big wide world, we are allowing it to live out its own potential and destiny to be loved and utilized by someone else. True enough, it could wind up in a rubbish tip. But once out of our hands, we must fully let go on all levels. Imagine and trust that wherever it winds up, it will ultimatly be the best possible place for it and whomever comes into contact with it!

Keep or Throw? © September 2, 2011 | Annie Zalezsak

Gratitude

I used to work with the notion of gratitude… feeling that if I focused on this, things would somehow be better. What I then realised was that being grateful for both good and bad experiences wasn’t necessary. It’s a bit like being positive when all around is falling apart!

I have taught Positive Thinking for about ten years now and I still see its worth today. But like gratitude, sometimes we just have to put up our hands and acknowledge that we feel c**p… because we do. And most times, even if we try to be positive or grateful we end up suppressing the truth of our feelings.

When we are being grateful, we are making a judgement that something is either good or bad. If we could let go of the judgement and see it as just ‘experience’, then we will know freedom from suffering.

Divine Timing

I rarely plan. When I schedule in advance, things have a way of re-organizing according to the needs and wants of others, circumstances, and even the weather. I’m all for spontaneity and living in the now; doing what feels right, as and when it feels right.

Not everyone works this way. Hence, appointments, schedules and agendas; goals, action plans and itineraries. Despite these timed, set-in-stone events, life has a way of rejigging according to its own rules.

The universe is a highly orchestrated entity. No matter how we try to mould it our own way, it wins. Attempt to force it, and it will find a way to re-route us to its own direction.

Intuition is listening deeply to the instructions of the Universe. The impulse to ‘act now’ because the flow is carrying us in this moment: this is divine timing. Be prepared to be unprepared. When plans go awry, if someone doesn’t show up, if there are traffic delays, trust that the Universe knows what it’s doing. It’s following its own pace: divine timing.

Divine Timing © June 23, 2011 | Annie Zalezsak

Becoming a Modern Nomad

I am a restless soul. Every moment of every day of my life must count for something, mean something, or I get very restless. I need to be where I am needed most; where I am nourished most. It’s a great big world out there. Why settle in one spot, decay and rot, in the name of putting down roots? We’re not trees. Humans have legs that are made for walking.

It took me many, many years to accept my nomadic self. The excuse to move has always been for work experience, a career move, more affordable cost of living. The truth is, my feet itch, my spirit yearns for renewal of Self, of fresh eyes, new perspectives, greater awareness, expanded possibilities. The traditional: own a home, have a family, get the latest devices everyone else has, while ‘nice’, has never been a motivation for me. In fact, once I acquire a certain amount of material possessions, there is a point at which it feels so burdensome, I need to get rid of it entirely. This is true to some degree of places I live, and even people (if they are stagnant in their own lives).

I used to be hard on myself about this. Like, it’s wrong. Like, I should be settled and own a home at my age. I should stick with my job because who’s going to give me another when fresh blood is so bountiful? But, this is my life, and I’m going to do it my way, and the consequences may not actually be so bad from my point of view. To some, the worst thing in the world may be to have nothing. But imagine the freedom!

The tribal way was nomadic. If a place no longer served, the community got up and shifted elsewhere. At a time when there were no borders, where instincts and intuition were followed, when shamans led and the people trusted, this is the innate natural behaviour of the human being on earth. Modern society is so fixated on ownership, on insurance, on legal boundaries – all oppressive fear-inducing tactics – resulting in depression, stuckness, and suicide (of spirit, if not body). For me, this kind of life is something I no longer accept.

It wasn’t until I fully accepted the possibility that I could become homeless, penniless, jobless and wind up with nothing – that I could begin to let go of all my possessions to free myself entirely of their responsibility, so I could be true to the wandering spirit that I am and live as a modern nomad. It is getting to a place of Fearlessness of the Unknown.

As I shed the excess baggage I’ve accumulated, I remain open to any and all possibilities that come my way. Open to learning, being, becoming, evolving.

Is there any other way to live? For me, this is the best way to live!

Becoming a Modern Nomad © March 16, 2011 | Annie Zalezsak

Attachment to Things

For years I’ve wondered why I struggle and keep changing my mind about whether to continue living in the UK or return to my homeland of Canada. The thought dawns that I have a great attachment to my things, and because my things are here in the UK, it feels more like ‘home’.

This attachment is completely unconscious. I didn’t think I was so attached to possessions, having relinquished so much through so many moves. And yet, earlier today, in a meditation, this came up as the hurdle, the wall, the thing blocking me from moving forward in my future. Somehow, I’ve invested my Self, my personality, my emotions, my Identity, into these mere ‘things’.

So now that I am aware of this, what is the best way to Detach from ‘things’?

Attachment to Things © February 16, 2011 | Annie Zalezsak