PASSOVER, THE FESTIVAL OF TRUE LIBERATION
Now is the time to free your body, spirit and soul.
We still have a couple of months before going on a luxury Passover retreat with Kosherica. How about spending as much time as you can in pursuit of true liberation? By the time the Festival of Freedom arrives, you and your loved ones will be glowing, having shed the burdens we all take so for granted.
Cleaning your home and belongings from clutter – before it’s time to discard the chametz, you’ll have a sparkling clean home. Your mind will go along for the ride and I confess the beauty I found last year as well as the beginnings of this one is incomparable.
Going from room to room, cabinets and drawers – make it easy on yourself. Pick a corner each day and sort whatever you find into boxes and bags marked Keep’, Donate’ or Discard’.
The give-away containers will keep getting bigger and bigger and so will your sense of freedom. A lightness, the like of which we have rarely experienced since the careless and carefree days of early childhood – to realize the enormous burden of accumulating objects and then the tremendous relief of ridding oneself of them.
Passover is looming near, as are the thoughts of new beginnings. A vow of freedom in the here and now began to form. Some came from my experience, others from observing others. It was a profound “AHA” moment that led me to write about the ways in which we can set ourselves free:
- Getting rid of the clothes you haven’t worn in years, or perhaps ever. They may have sentimental value such as the expensive gift from a loved one, and you thought you “might grow to like them”. You didn’t and likely never will. You may donate them to second hand stores or consign them to high end resale boutiques. If they are holey and ultra-worn, put them in a third bag named “Discard”.
- Furniture – luckily, I’m about ready to move to a better place where I can paint without dreading the paint stain on the wall to wall carpets. It’s expensive to move heavy stuff cross country, or even across the street. Two bedrooms, a dining and living room filled with a multitude of containers for my stuff. A great many chests of drawers, book cases, bedside tables, armoires, easels, chairs, tables, endless stuff. Some priceless antiques, some incredibly beautiful creations which sprung from my imagination, others lovely, functional and solid wood but replaceable. Or not. This stuff has been like a heavy ball and chain. I don’t want to be chained anymore. ;If I got rid of most of my clothes, a great number of my books and the linens I never use anymore, I won’t need many of the containers. I cut off around 4000 cubic feet of stuff.
- Even if you are not moving, you may still feel chained and trapped. You want to fly but instead you do things for everyone – you are the designated driver, cook, caretaker, cleaning lady, and CEO of your company. I think you deserve a break, every day. Some TLC, a warm bath with candles and aromatherapy scent all around. Yoga and massage, stretching class, daily meditations. ;I’m talking male or female, we all need some self-loving.
- Hire someone to do the house cleaning at least once a week. Then teach the kids a great lesson – any action has consequences. If they make their bed and keep their room neat they gain points, which can translate to more pocket money. And the opposite applies – they make a mess and refuse to clean up, they lose points, and learn a life lesson at the same time. But most of all, you gain some ME time. This will also prevent arguments between you and your spouse, and instead give you free time to recall who it is you married.
Freedom par excellence!
- The greatest freedom comes from within. Tranquility, peace of mind, a spiritually infused life has a way of removing most fear born behavior and thought pattern. Those alone are responsible for most of the said sense of helpless enslavement. Go within, either alone or with the help of a good functional/cognitive therapist and clean up your inner clutter. Think positive!
- Weight. This is a huge issue in the USA and in many parts of the world. If you happen to have a fast metabolism you get kudos. Or you may be a slave to your food intake ; An apple with a cup of yogurt and three or four hours of a hard work out. Now is the time to stop. Children to elderly people struggle unhealthily, preoccupied with their weight. It’s enslaving young children who think they are not as thin as the kids in the magazines and TV, thus they are worthless. It leads to a disastrous preoccupation with one’s body. Wanting to look like someone else is destructive and takes up a great deal of emotional and intellectual space.
It becomes an obsession so many of us are focused on the next meal before they finished the current one. I think that for total freedom it would be wise to forget about diets’ and think about healthy lifestyles. If you can visit a functional doctor (who’ll check your internal organs, vitamin and mineral contents, genetic inclinations, etc.) and prescribe an eating regimen tailored to YOU, considering, beside other things your likes dislikes, cravings and more, you’ll bequeath yourself the greatest gift. ;Try to use your body for building muscle and get your circulation going. Your weight will stabilize so it will never again be your slave master. Teach your daughters that living a healthy life will bring them strength and happiness. And yes, true freedom!
Let this Passover be the beginning of a totally free you.
Le’shana Habaa BeYerushalayim Habnuyah.