The Joy of Letting Go

October is so full of changes, but it could be my favorite month. It has always been a bittersweet month for me. I grew up in a house where letting go was a real problem. I bought things only because I loved them. I have been on this journey of letting go of "beloved things" for a LONG time!!! On October 4th I brought most of my China dishes, and crystal to sell to Replacements LTD. It was complete release of what I valued in life. Some of it I valued so much, I didn't use for fear I would break it. So, this is a thought that needed the most changing. This is the thought that made selling it easier. But, then as I drove away the more fear of not getting the check sunk in. What if the bottom fell out of the box, and it all broke? What if the person going through it decides it is not the value they told me in writing in the offer? You get the idea. I am happy to say I got the check yesterday. It was a long three weeks waiting. The crazy part is the check was $20 more then my last attorney bill due. When I was thinking of putting the money away for when I go to France next year, it was much easier. But, I did manage to come up with some money to buy my favorite dishes from Nathalie Lete at Anthropologie. And, I use them every day. And, they do make me joyful. I have started to list some small things (easy to ship) on Ebay. They are three pieces of hand painted dishes made by Herend in Hungary. And, these are really tough to let go of. Because, I won them. Back in the late 90's the store I worked at Brielle Galleries, brought in sales representatives once a month. There would be an incentive to sell their products. We would watch a video about how and where they would be made And, why what we were selling was so valuable. I also learned through the customers. I will never forget a customer who went to Hungary to buy Herend. And, he told me there was no store like Brielle Galleries. There was not one store that had space big enough to hold the inventory. And, no owner could afford to buy the amount of inventory. We had every pattern, color and size. We had the same pattern Queen Victoria (the pattern was named after her). It basically was a museum, but we were selling. I would just imagine the houses they were going into. Replacements LTD was ten times the space. When I walked in there was a beautiful gallery wall. It was made to look like autumn leaves blowing in the wind. In Brielle Galleris there were beautiful tablescapes of beautiful fall colors. And, the silver was amazing. We had a whole room of Buccelatti, which was made in Italy. This was three times the size. The Silver tea services were exquisite. I was so glad I finally had chance to be in a place that I had recommended to others since the 90's. As, we approached the millenium we had more and more customers ask if we could buy their dishes, silver and crystal. This was the beginning of a big change in the world. We started having companies come in to buy gold. We used to have a line waiting to buy the day after Christmas, where the holiday patterns would be 50% off. Now, we only had lines of people selling thier heirloom jewelry. The store closed after being in business for thirty five years. It was a hard lesson in accepting change. Tommorow's post will be the encouraging words Ira left me in a letter of recommendation. And, the opportunities he gave me creating items to sell at the store. This morning I just spent some time working on my ebay store. I was able to name my store The Butterfly Wrestler. For now it is going to be items I am letting go of. In the future it will be supplies for a Butterfly Wrestler community. It will be full of journals, pens and greeting cards for writing. And, watercolors and paper to paint on. The link to my store is here. Quote of the day:“Holding on is believing that there's only a past; letting go is knowing that there's a future.” -Daphne Rose Kingma Song of the Day: I feel the Love The Heavy