Chipping away

I stood before the pile of clothes, holding each piece and asking myself, “Does this give me joy?”

If you are also part of the KonMari cult, you may recognize this ritual. I, like many Americans, have been discovering the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Actually, this is just one part of my life that has been culled back. I feel like a sculptor, who has this giant slab of marble, and I’m chipping away the pieces. I have a hammer and a chisel and I’m banging, here and there. It’s painful and difficult, because somehow I am the one who is sculpting and being sculpted.

It started with my identity. I had been a Pastor, Writer, and Speaker. I was holding all three together for a long time. Then, I became exhausted and my body was falling apart. (Literally. I have a very painful stress indicator. My shoulder dislocates.) But I kept working at all of it, enjoying every full minute.