Grateful Book Purge

As Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close my thoughts are moving towards reflection and inspiration for the year to come. I'm signing up for Reverb10. I've also thought about Picture the Holidays, but worry it's too much. I'm feeling crafty thanks to the Virgo moon. This moon phase also comes with the need to purge, organize and manically clean tile grout with a toothbrush. OK, it's not that bad, but it is nit-picky.Out of nowhere today I started pulling books off the white bookcases that flank the TV. A pile of books from the office upstairs needed a home. Even though I hardly purchase books, I found myself with more stuff than storage. It was time to purge.23 books are ready for donation. My bookcases feel spruced up and streamlined. To take it one step further, all harvest decorations were switched for Christmas ones. It's a small gesture, but movements like these - cooking a meal, deep cleaning the fridge, mending clothing - are all ways in which we come back to ourselves, our habitats and our habits. Call it nesting, puttering, tending to things, whatever, what matters is the action of focusing on the detail in one's life and sorting things out, acknowledging, and cherishing what we have.

"...all you have is all you need to be genuinely happy. All you need is the awareness of how much you really have and then, give thanks." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's been an up and down week for my heart. I found myself worried, pulled, guilty and confused. With the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted a gracious post to put up, but I wasn't ready. Now I am.I am grateful for the support I have in my life, but I am most grateful for starting to understand my life on a deeper level. For realizing, however fleetingly in a day, that this is all good, everything is as it should be, and I am doing the best I can with what I have. I'm learning to stop arguing with reality.Tolle writes that we experience stress around life "situations" - thoughts that are related to past encounters or future hopes / worries - but that our life that's happening in the NOW is perfect. There are no problems, just situations that we are dealing with in the present moment or that need to be accepted as part of the "isness" of our lives.This week brought sadness then comfort. My feelings surged and yet, I was OK. Never was I not OK. I needed to go through this week to see how far I've come. I am grateful for my own strength, having the courage to begin tending to my needs, my business this busy year of 2010.