I love sharing books with you. "If We Were . . ." a children's picture book, and "Seek Joy, Find Beauty, Share Love" is filled with beautiful images of our natural world and a meditative reflection on finding our place in it.
In "Zen of Hoarding - 108 offerings for deciding what we own," I hope to help you clear the space between the clutter and your calling.
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A note from the Saira Priest regarding her book:
Zen of Hoarding: 108 offerings for deciding what you own
Do you feel frustrated by the amount of "stuff" you have? What would you do if your clutter was not in your way every day? What dream might you entertain? What goal would you pursue? What wishes would be fulfilled?
Since you were drawn to this site, my guess is that you are a lot like me, brimming full of new, fresh innovative ideas, almost bursting at the seam with them. You are ready and just waiting for a safe opportunity to express yourself fully. You are kind, sensitive, caring and have an intuitive sense about things. You have a deeply embedded sense of someone you are supposed to be but have yet to feel its fullest expression.
You go through life trying to find expression of a deeper need which you either are fully aware of or at times feel clouded by. When you think about the cloudiness, much of it is about the things you own, the physical stuff around you, and the emotional attachments it represents. Time seems to have gone away quickly and pressures of daily living have taken precedence over paying attention to the "stuff." Somehow, you also know that the things you have accumulated aren't just "stuff", they represent something meaningful in your life that you are hoping to one day do or achieve. It is like your deepest aspirations have somehow gotten transferred into the stuff. So the stuff is a sort of reminder of who you are, who you would like to be and how you would like to be remembered long after you are gone. However, there is one in-congruency, and that is, when you look around, you think, this isn't what I would like to leave behind or how I want to be remembered. These are unfulfilled, incomplete dreams. I would like to be remembered for who I am, what I believe in, what I have done - my accomplishments.
So this is where we begin. To fill that gap, we begin where we are, and we identify where we would have liked to be by now. And we begin by detailed descriptions of what that world looks like within the state of our expectations. Then we begin to take the closest and most manageable steps to bridge the gaps, ever getting closer to that imagined sight until we find ourselves passing and even surprisingly surpassing our goals. This really happens for a lot of people everyday and it can and will happen for you. It will happen because you have already been searching for the solutions and the universe exists to serve you what you want. If you look back over your life, you will see that this has been true.
You having arrived here reading this at this moment is a perfect example. You desire a change in your life. The change is not simply about clearing the clutter, for the clutter itself is but a symptom, or what I call "noise"; but about finding and answering your true calling, the one you have been protecting and secretly nurturing most of your life. But because this calling is so strong and powerful, it has found expression in many ways in your life, expressing itself in ways that felt safe to you. It may find itself in your work, or the way that you work, how you connect with people, the service work you do, and the way you care for people, animals and the planet. Yet you feel something bigger and better or at least more powerful brewing inside of you, and this is the something that seeks a fuller expression.
If any of this sounds eerily familiar, like I have gotten inside your secret world, don't worry, I know all this because I went through this myself. Because it resonates with you now, means you are in that place and maybe what I share, will be the tool, the next step on the bridge that brings you closer to where you want to be.
As I cross my many bridges on my journey, I reach out to people who have just been where I will soon be to light and guide my path. To prepare me for the road ahead, to inform of what I might expect, to tell me where the scenic route is or where it might be a good idea to take a detour, or to tell me how to avoid getting my foot stuck in the mud, if I just step 2 inches that way. And if I was told about the mud and want to experience the sensation of mud, that is okay too, just part of the journey. That you are seeking information means you would like some knowledge that will build courage, confidence or maybe just awareness of what to expect.
Whatever you seek, you will find. This is the greater promise.
So, let's get to clearing the clutter and at the same time, we will return back to our dreams and entertain ways to bring them more into the light.
My method and message of clearing is not about getting rid of stuff, instead it is about mining the gold, getting to the good stuff, keeping what matters, or using my favorite phrase, "culling the gem".
This gem, My Friend, is you, it is you, your goals, your dreams, your ambitions, your wishes, both big and small. It is about honoring the best of you and finding your passion, and exploring the easiest and best way of expressing your Soul Purpose. I believe we all come here with an evolutionary urge to be better and better and it is the driving force behind our soul purpose.
I wrote this book, "Zen of Hoarding" so that you can find your best self under all that clutter, both physical and emotional, and go on to achieve your dreams, and honor your soul purpose. I hope reading my book will help you.
With Love,
Saira