Ooh … this is a difficult one. If, like me, you get emotionally attached to things then letting go of what no longer fits is not easy. But as I prepare to move into a new home, I’ve become much more aware of what I want to carry forward with me – and what I don’t.
Not just in terms of physical things (and I’ve got a lot of pieces I’ve been dragging around with me for years), but in a wider sense too.
Over the past couple of years, life has shifted in ways I didn’t expect. Some of those changes were difficult, some were necessary and some only made sense in hindsight.
And whilst I’m very much looking forward now, I can also see how easy it is to hold onto things that belong to a previous chapter.
Even with Willow & Hen I’ve been looking at pieces from earlier collections and realising that, whilst they were right at the time, they don’t quite belong in what Willow & Hen is becoming now.
There’s nothing wrong with them.
They just don’t feel aligned anymore.
And I think that’s an important distinction.
Letting go isn’t always about something being bad or wrong, sometimes it’s about recognising that something no longer fits the life you’re moving towards.
I’ve started going through items in my house, in storage and also in my daily life and asking a very simple question:
Would I chose this again, now?
and if the answer is no, then it’s probably something I don’t need to carry with me into the next chapter.
I think many of us reach a point where our homes begin to hold layers of who we used to be – things we’ve outgrown, spaces that no longer feel quite right, belongings that feel emotionally heavy.
And yet, we keep them, because they were once important, they feel familiar, because letting go can feel harder than holding on.
I can see now that making space – both physically and emotionally – is what allows something new to come in.
For me, right now, that looks like:
I am being very strict with this – only keeping items that make me feel happy, warm and calm. Letting go of anything that feels emotionally heavy from the past or doesn’t feel like it belongs in this next chapter.
There’s something very freeing about that – and that’s what this season is really about – not rushing into the next chapter but gently closing the previous one, with intention and care. Because sometimes, making space is the first step towards creating a home – and a life- that feels more like you.
Sue x
