Chipping Away at the Stone
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
-Rumi
Perhaps you have read this quote before, as I had. Perhaps you have even deeply understood it, as I had not.
Michelangelo said, when referring to carving the statue of David, he saw David within the block of stone, and then simply chipped away anything that was not David.
We gather beliefs, habits, expectations, titles, identities, and yes, material things, around us, and, like the stone around the statue, they obscure us. Like barriers, they hold us apart from ourselves, from love. I believe that, when we are truly connected to Love (call it the Universe, God, Spirit, whatever word works for you), that is when we are able to live the life we were meant to, that is when we feel fulfilled, purpose-driven and joyful.
So often we are seeking what it is that will “fix” us, or make us happy, or whole, or good enough. I am beginning to truly understand that the process of growth, of personal development, is actually about removing that which is not us, that which is not our deeper (some might say “higher”) self. The beliefs that we are not good enough (rich enough, thin enough, smart enough, pretty enough, any “enough”), are simply false. They are the stone we can chip away to reveal our true selves, hidden within.
This is, in part, why decluttering is so powerful, and can be so profound. In the releasing of some "thing" (or many, things!), we are releasing ourself...perhaps from the identity of a person who owns that thing, perhaps from a life - or expectation of a life - that is no longer true, perhaps from the fear of a future where we might “need” that thing.
As I release physical clutter and debris from my life, an unexpected side effect has been the releasing of mental or psychological clutter. Old beliefs that no longer serve me seem easier to let go, or at least easier to recognize. Our unconscious attachment to old stories, old beliefs, can keep us trapped in a repetitive cycle of behaviour. By recognizing them and releasing them, we make way for new possibilities, new growth.
Our true nature has nothing to do with our job, our financial status, our weight, it is so much deeper and greater than any of those things. The more we attach to those ego stories, the more barriers we build against love. The more we can release our attachment to these identities, these barriers, the more peace and true joy we can find.
