“On the Eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me… eleven pipers piping!”

Today is the 11th Day of Christmas. I know. I know. You thought the 12 days of Christmas began before the 25th. In actuality, they begin post birth and end with the arrival of the 3 Kings on the 6th. Though some would say the Epiphany on January 6 also represents the day that the baby Jesus was baptised.

As a child, the Epiphany was a big celebration in our house. The tree could not come down, the decorations could not be put away until after the 6th. When my daughters were younger, there was always one gift tucked into the branches of the tree (hopefully all the pine needles didn’t fall off when the gift was inserted). “Oh look!” I’d exclaim when they found their gift, “The three kings have visited.”

There was also the tradition of the Three Kings Cake. Always created ‘in the round’, the cake also included a hidden treasure tucked within it. Like money. Whoever got the slice with the money (the ancients used a bean or seed) was said to be especially lucky and got to wear the paper crown that was also part of the tradition.

So it goes without saying that I love ritual. I love how it connects me to my family and their family and families past. I love how it weaves magic and wonder and a sense of awe into everything I do.

And I love how it keeps me grounded in what is important and vital and nourishing to my soul.

Holding on…

Which possibly explains why I find it so hard to let go of ‘things’. Oh, not the emotionally driven things like, ‘you were mean to me I’m going to hate you for the rest of my life’ — which okay… honest…  I think that maybe, just possibly, that was one of the things my sister, Anne, and I said to each other when we were kids and one or the other of us did something to hurt the other…

But I got over it. Holding onto grudges. Blurting out hurtful things just because I was feeling less than or other than or different than someone else. Being resentful doesn’t get me more of what I want in my life — peace, love, joy and harmony.

Not holding onto resentments, focussing on what I want in my life, however, has not done anything about my tendency to hold onto ‘things’. Objects. Possessions.

For someone who ten years ago woke up one morning in May with nothing but a few clothes in a suitcase, Ellie the Wonder Pooch and 72 cents in her pocket, it amazes me how I have accumulated so much stuff my closets are over-flowing, the basement is bulging and the double garage only has room for one car.

Taking a page from Mark’s comment yesterday who shared his process of ‘curing’ himself of accumulation tendencies, I’ve decided to start rejoicing in the adage, Less is More.

For the rest of this year, every day I must throw out, give away, cull, divest myself of one thing. And I can’t bring another thing into this house (other than food and essentials) until I’ve got a month of divestiture under my belt.

And so it begins…

This morning’s give away is all about ‘the great outdoors’. The closet in my office is full of outerwear I seldom wear. Mostly, I call them my dog walking coats but seriously… how many dog walking coats does a gal need? Ellie doesn’t care what I’m wearing. She’s just happy to be outside. And most of the coats in that closet I might wear once a year, if that. Some, I haven’t worn for two or three or more. So, I’ve taken them down off their hangers, checked through their pockets, (six poop bags, one dog treat — who knows how old — a pocket-size package of kleenex, one mitten (so that’s where it was!) and $5.72). While the daily-item-giveaway will not be the theme of this blog, I shall be sharing a photo of what I’ve culled (just to keep me honest).

And just so you know. My heart is having pangs of anxiety. My palms are itchy. My scalp is crawling with thought bugs creeping all over the place. “Do I really have to do this?” “What if you need a coat just that colour…” “It might come back in style next year.” “It’s in really good shape, and you don’t have a windbreaker just that length…”

But I’m doing it anyway. Being brave. Being committed. Being resourceful and rejoicing in a closet that isn’t quite so crammed!

Namaste.

PS — and thank you Alexis for the inspiration to start culling through The Wunder Year!