fun-raising thought-for-the-day

[Therese Fitzpatrick]

I don't do church anymore but back-in-the-day when I did, I twice
organized a community circulation day sponsored by my church.  We
challenged the members to go through their belongings and give away
anything that they had not used or, maybe, even thought of in the past
year.  Then we displayed the avalanche of 'stuff' in a high school
gymnasium and invited the entire world to come and take whatever they
wanted.

The point of the exercise was to practice circulation, a concrete
opportunity to practice trusting that one will always have what they
need.

The first year I managed Circulation Day, I had been sharing a house
with another single mother for two years and we used her kitchen
stuff. . .  I reasoned that as the manager of Circulation Day, I had
to do what I was asking other church members to do so I took a big
breath and I gave away all the stuff I had not used in one year, which
was actually a heckuva lot of stuff.  For some reason, 'releasing' my
microwave seemed like a big deal. I was tired of sharing a home with
another family and I fretted that I wouldn't be able to afford a new
microwave when I needed one.  It seems so silly now:  I have since
owned several microwaves.  What was the big deal?!  But it was a big
deal to me at the time, almost twenty years ago.

I also gave away the teapot I had stored in the microwave.  It had
come with a Mother's Day floral arrangement.   My mom used to send me
flowers each Mother's Day because my daughter was still too young to
shop for me and there was no one around to take her shopping (my
mother lived across the country and she couldn't take my daughter
shopping).  I never used this Mother's Day teapot because I always
used the one that belonged to my grandmother (to this day I still use
the one that belonged to my grandmother).  So, according to the
Circulation Day challenge, I 'had' to give away the Mother's Day
teapot.  It had sentimental value but I had never actually used it.

As I heaved the microwave into the trunk of my car to haul it to the
church, something kept telling me to check inside the teapot.  I
argued with myself, telling myself to not unwrap the teapot, which was
stored in some packing to avoid breakage.  It was safe and secure in
the microwave and I told myself to let it be.  But no, the inner voice
kept nagging me to look inside the teapot.

Frustrated with my inner nag, I pulled apart the packaging and put my
hand into the teapot.  And I pulled out eight hundred dollar bills
($800.00 US).

To this day, I have no idea where that $800 came from. After I found
that money, I went through my belongings with a fierceness you might
find hard to believe.  I worked very hard on Circulation Day and it
was an awesome success.

My OSonOS Halifax Auction Challenge to you is to clean out a closet in
your house with the intention of finding something to donate to the
OSonOS auction.  You will get a newly organized closet out of the deal
as well as the good energy we always get when we let go of things we
no longer need.  Do it to be selfish.  If you do it with the right
intention, I absolutely guarantee that  you will be glad you cleaned
out that closet or that drawer. . . choose one small corner of your
home and look around.

--
Warmly,
Therese Fitzpatrick, MS, JD

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