The book I’m reading (Clearing Clutter as a Sacred Act) had readers identify a person or a thing or a concept to dedicate the clearing process to, and then to write a short proclamation of intention.

“I proclaim that my clutter-clearing process is an act of devotion to my Future, and to my Future Self. As I clear my clutter, I am making room/space for a deeper, more vibrant engagement with my Future, opening myself to new possibilities, and trusting, as I go, that richer treasures will come into my life.”

This weekend, I made a list of the next areas of my house that I need to focus on, and came up with 1) the Master bedroom and bathroom, 2) the spare bedroom closet, and 3) Christmas things. Since I will be taking down my tree and putting away other holiday decor, Christmas things moves to the top of the list.

I’ve found that after some difficult family things happened a few years ago, I can be triggered into great grief and sadness unexpectedly when I come across items with heavy emotional attachments. I’ve moved on to a place in my healing that I can now let go of things that bring me pain without the guilt that used to accompany parting with highly charged items.

I’ve noted that several of the ornaments on the tree this year were bringing me haunting grief when I’d see them, so I’ve decided as I take down the tree, the ornaments that bring pain will be finding their way into the donation box to find a new home. I’ve come a long way. The first couple of years, I couldn’t put up any of my ornaments and just bought a box of inexpensive plain ornaments that I used for a couple of years. Each year since, I’ve taken steps to reclaim my holiday decor. Now what’s on the tree are ornaments that bring me joy and happy memories. It took a while to get to that place.

So, I’m going to start the New Year with clearing holiday clutter. There may be some pain lurking in the process, but I know from experience, there are also steps leading to healing.