Making Space

This is the time of year when I want to throw everything away.

Not just because hermits – even part-time ones – are supposed to live in spartan little houses with few possessions. Right? You know, maybe a fork, a plate, a candle, a pencil, a notebook made of bark, and an icon or something.

Also, after weeks of colorful chaos and frantic cluttering, all I want to do is clear the decks and offload deadweight.

Also, the new year is coming and I want life to feel lighter, simpler, easier.

The thing is, I’ve been wondering if decluttering is not as effective at making life lighter, simpler, or easier as I used to think. Could purging possessions be more compulsive and reactive than a purposeful activity of organization toward better living? What if throwing stuff away can be a kind of avoiding? Something to do instead of dealing with fear or regret? What if decluttering can be a substitute for dealing with hard, unpleasant, unreconcilable feelings?

Life, by nature, is messy and cluttered. Even if you only own a backpack’s worth of stuff. (See also my April newsletter: “The Wild Thicket Across the Street.”)

And while human beings always long to begin anew, to start afresh, to get it right, decluttering may be a way we imagine we are moving toward new life, when really, it might be a distraction from learning to live the life we already have.

I say this all with caution, because too much clutter can certainly be a problem.  

I also say this as a person who loves nothing more than cruising Zillow and Realtor.com, always imagining a new life in a new place to live. Someone who has moved four times in less than six years, living in four different municipalities (Bolingbrook, downtown Chicago, DeKalb, Indianapolis).

I say this as a person who often seeks the feeling of “problem solved!” by shopping for a solution in the form of an item.

I say this as a person who has purged things that I later regretted, or had to rebuy!  

As this new year turns, I am going to resist the urge to declutter. Instead, I’ve decided to give up shopping and accumulating more clutter from January 1 until Easter Sunday. I was deeply inspired by this essay by Ann Patchett.

I’m going to follow Patchett’s framework: “I could buy anything in the grocery store, including flowers. I could buy shampoo and printer cartridges and batteries but only after I’d run out of what I had. I could buy plane tickets and eat out in restaurants. I could buy books because I write books.” I am going to try not to overthink and discern other questions of what I won’t or must buy on a case by case basis.

I would like to try seeking what I need (or think I need) among the things that I already have. I mean, I have enough. I probably already have whatever I am going to need in my cupboards, drawers, and closets someplace or other (unless I start purging things again!).

I hope to also practice, spiritually, that I can find whatever I need or long for in the life, body, and mind I already have.

At Easter, I may decide to go ahead and go the whole year. I’ll let you know how it all goes.

Feeling lighter, simpler, and easier is probably not about having less stuff.

We probably already have enough of what we need to dwell in the life we already have. To know God’s love. To have compassion for others, especially those people it feels so easy to judge or abhor. To be the person we are called to be. Happy New Year, friends.

BITS AND BOBS

My Newest Book

A preacher’s dream, a personal reflection extravaganza, a small group treasure trove, a lectionary spectacular! Order here or wherever you buy books: Everyday Connections: Reflections and Practices for Year C

How I Can “Sign” Your Book

If you’d like a specially designed bookplate for your copy of the new book, you can fill out the form on the front page of my website and I’ll sign and mail you one for free: https://heidihaverkamp.net/

Podcast Interview with Comic Belief — (“An Irreverent Search for the Reverent across a Secular Multiverse!”). “We talk over how CS Lewis's gifts continue to help young -- and perhaps even more, old -- Christians find our way home to a loving God who is both warm and wonderful and also a bit terrifying.” Link Here.

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

A video of me preaching about Advent in Narnia over Zoom to the people of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette, Indiana, where my seminary classmate The Rev. Bradley Pace is rector.

Lent is Coming

Ash Wednesday is March 2, 2022. Consider my Lent book, Holy Solitude: Lenten Reflections with Saints, Hermits, Prophets, and Rebels, for your personal practice or small group discussion.