The Removal of Things

Slowly you take things off the wall.
Not in a frenzy. Slowly.
Remove one and wait.
A day. Maybe more.
Less to see it, but to feel it.
How deep is the loss?
Or is there any?
What is the trade-off?
Stuff for opportunity?
Is there more joy with a thing removed
than was possible with a thing added.

The answer is almost always yes.

And you sit with it a day or few
before you remove the next thing.
It can take days, weeks, a lifetime.
Timelines don’t matter.
Trajectories do.

You know when you find your balance.
that place between too much and too little.
Stuff.
Activity.
Thoughts.
You will know.

Your heart will slow and leap at the same time.
And you will no longer have to find peace.
It will have found you.

About this poem.

Sometimes I think my whole life is a battle between what is important and what is not.
Stuff. Activity. Thoughts.

The picture is of a Shaker clock. I think the Shakers made some of the most beautiful things, ever.

Tom