Comments on: Letting go of fossilized dreams

By: Dancing with My Space Monster » VisualsSpeak blog

Dancing with My Space Monster » VisualsSpeak blog — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:26:00 +0000

[...] couple of weeks ago in my post Letting go of Fossilized Dreams, I talked about realizing I had remnants of past businesses in the form of art supplies. In the [...]

By: Christine Martell

Christine Martell — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:37:34 +0000

@Emma and @HIro Thanks for the encouragement. Guess I better get with it and find out what it takes to be an artist in the internet age?

By: Hiro Boga

Hiro Boga — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:26:41 +0000

What Emma said! Is there someplace we can buy your paintings? Or prints of them? I’d love to have one of yours on the wall in front of my desk, for creative inspiration.

By: Emma King

Emma King — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:59:35 +0000

I just love that painting, I need it on my office wall – its so uplifting!!!

By: Peggy Pusch

Peggy Pusch — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:19:32 +0000

So we need to talk about this too. I am on this kind of journey except that it is about shedding tasks and organizations. I want more time to do what I want to do although I resonated with that part about not being able to do everything that is interesting. Curiosity has often been my downfall! And excitement about a new idea, a new opportunity but you need to shed something to include a new something. So…I have just resigned from a board. I shed a workshop last year that I had been doing for 10 years–enough already. Two down and more to go. Thanks for the resources. I’m not bad at throwing things away or downsizing and you’ve helped me do that now and then (however, I had to buy some more mugs but that was fun). My challenge is my closet, as you well know, and it sure is time to clean that out. I keep a Goodwill bag close at hand.

Love the new jewelry and the colors you picked to go with my new jacket (what was that about the closet?) are perfect.

By: Christine Martell

Christine Martell — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:37:41 +0000

@Victoria
I’m thinking there is a lot in the linkage between wanting to do it all and wanting to keep the dreams that generate a lot of the overwhelm I feel on a daily basis. I just can’t seem to work hard enough or run fast enough, which I know is the ticket to burn out. At least awareness is the first step?

By: Victoria Brouhard

Victoria Brouhard — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:19:56 +0000

Wow, Christine. Two really big points that hit home for me.

I’ve been struggling with clutter for years, but I never realized before how much of my stuff amounts to “fossilized dreams”.

That and the struggle to come to terms with my inability to do and have it all. So much good stuff out there…I’m trying to do it all, try it all. In total agreement with Michelle that it doesn’t seem fair.

Thank you for sharing this!

By: Christine Martell

Christine Martell — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:36:23 +0000

@Michelle So hard to not do everything, life is luscious with so many possibilities. Clearly I am over limit, so the risk of heartache is seeming manageable in the face of continued overwhelm. Now I need to just watch for making the letting go process any more overwhelming than the fossils. Delicate balance for sure.

@Leah Be sure to share what you learn!

@Barbara
I think the stuff can feel like all of that at the same time, and that’s what I find overwhelming. Its like an emotional seesaw, so it can be easier to just stuff it back in a box.
Your reframe is helpful. I think I’m still in the shock of new realization, so things feel black and white, jarring and violent. I do enjoy gifting things to other people who can use them, so that is a great path. I just have to back away from the ledge a bit first! Keep reminding me of the fun and generous possibilities here!

By: Barbara Martin

Barbara Martin — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:31:48 +0000

This is fascinating. Sometimes “the stuff” all around us feels like a secure nest or a foundation and gives us a sense of “the known” we can cling to which is tempting when we face the “unknown” or “undefined”, but other times it feels like a drag weight, smothering, holding us back from trying new things or finding new paths or just plain branching out or … breathing.

To rephrase a little, you don’t have to get rid of it all RIGHT NOW or even get rid of ALL of it — that’s a bit dualistic. And “getting rid” is such a harsh and ugly sounding expression.

What if you decided on a certain something that could be found a new home, either by sale or donation or special gift. Then help it find a new place in the world where someone will enjoy it and love it and use it.

That sounds kinder, gentler and a lot more fun, no?

By: leah

leah — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:58:25 +0000

Oh, I could relate to so much of this, Christine!! And like you it takes a long time for this organizing stuff to sink in. Slowly but surely though, it’s getting there.