2:00

moved out to Los Angeles. I

2:03

was in Los Angeles for 10

2:06

years, five of those years at my awesome

2:09

condo in Pasadena. And

2:13

prior to that, the other five years in LA, because

2:15

I was there a decade, various places,

2:18

just, I

2:21

had a lot of interesting housing

2:23

experiences. So the condo's

2:26

last five years, you know, was moving out

2:28

from Los Angeles to Raleigh. And so

2:30

I downsized then. But

2:32

I think I was so excited to come out here.

2:34

And one,

2:36

I'm gonna be honest, because who I am, I save money

2:39

by downsizing.

2:40

And I

2:43

guess because it's been 12 years, I think sometimes

2:45

we create amnesia for ourselves. It was, I

2:47

think it was hard on

2:50

me, because I, dear

2:52

friend, Cottie's there, other people that I love are there.

2:54

And I got the best compliment

2:56

the day I left. Someone told me that I taught

2:58

him how to love. So that is one of the

3:01

nicest things that's ever and most meaningful

3:03

that's ever been said to me. So anyway,

3:06

because I'm going through this again and realizing, wow,

3:09

this is the longest I've lived

3:11

anywhere. And in addition

3:13

to this, I purchased this home. It

3:16

was a big deal to me. I couldn't afford a home out in

3:18

Los Angeles.

3:19

Middle class just, I could have been

3:22

like three hours away, but wouldn't want to commute.

3:24

So anyway, first home, this is where

3:26

I wrote the books. I

3:28

fell in love while I was here, got Tony, got

3:30

Joey, then Antonio joined

3:32

us. And then Athena followed

3:35

some heartbreak here, but on the whole,

3:38

started my business here. And

3:39

big life

3:41

things like getting married and starting business

3:44

and being here. It's like, wow,

3:46

I've been here 12 years.

3:48

And so as we've been cluttering

3:50

and, you know, as I mentioned before, guys, I have

3:52

stuff, but downsizing literally means

3:55

letting go of even more and having less.

3:58

Tony sold the lawnmower, which I love.

5:59

She gave a lot away,

6:02

I'd say it was probably the last few

6:04

years of her life.

6:05

What she did is she asked

6:07

people in the family what they wanted.

6:09

I don't think she asked us. I think she asked

6:11

my aunts

6:14

and their spouses and my father and my

6:16

mom. Because

6:18

if there's stuff that you can't take with you, can't

6:21

take anything with you really when you go on

6:24

your next adventure. But that's something,

6:26

okay, have it and get it out. My grandmother's

6:28

awesome because it got out the door. So

6:31

once, the

6:32

other thing you're going to want to think about and

6:34

take the time to figure out

6:36

is what are you going to do with what's left?

6:38

Are you going to sell? Maybe

6:41

there are things you want to put in consignment. Perhaps

6:45

you're a whiz and want to post on eBay.

6:48

What about Craigslist? Do you need

6:51

an antique dealer? Now in

6:53

another episode, I talk about whether

6:56

or not an estate sale is something you want to do or

6:58

same day cash and carry. So

7:01

those are other considerations to have. When

7:04

you're really clear on these decisions,

7:07

it is going to make

7:09

you less anxious, trust me.

7:12

Because we are really clear, okay, when we have

7:14

the first garage sale, and

7:16

we ended up having because our neighbor wanted to do it again because

7:18

they didn't sell a lot. So we're like, yeah, put it so we can put

7:20

multifamily, we'll do it again.

7:22

We literally had one table of stuff and luckily

7:25

sold some stuff that day too. But

7:27

what we said was when the

7:29

first garage sale is done, we are taking the rest

7:31

to our favorite animal charity. So

7:34

a couple of things I said, oh, let's try to sell this. This

7:36

is good stuff. But we packed

7:39

it right. I laughed. Someone was here at five

7:41

to 12. I'm like, no, I know we said noon,

7:43

but not interested. You waited

7:46

the last minute, I got to get the stuff out of here. So

7:48

we packed up Minerva

7:50

and took it right away because we had made that decision

7:52

as a team, this is what we're going to do.

7:55

That just allows you to have

7:57

mental clarity. you're

8:00

going to want to think as you are contemplating

8:03

all these things, what's more important?

8:06

Do you need money? And where is no right

8:08

or wrong? Peace of mind, college

8:10

hunks, holland junk or someone to come in and take

8:12

out all your stuff and donate it. Or we have a

8:14

local guy that will give

8:16

it to a charity, see what he can sell, make sure it's

8:19

recycled. I mean, I think that's an awesome option.

8:23

Let those decisions guide you when thinking,

8:25

am I going to sell or do I want to give away

8:28

something? Our

8:31

affirmations for decluttering support

8:33

you in releasing clutter at a deeper

8:36

level. The meditation

8:38

begins with focus statements on releasing

8:40

clutter, followed by powerful

8:43

positive affirmations for healing and

8:46

end with complete statements. The

8:49

affirmation concludes with a reaffirming

8:51

meditation exercise to fill

8:54

where clutter was released. Again,

8:56

clearing clutter affirmations to choose

8:59

from. Go to reawakenyourbrilliance.com

9:02

to learn more.

9:07

Emotional

9:07

downsizing can

9:09

be emotionally draining.

9:11

Like I said, be prepared

9:13

for unexpected emotions.

9:16

I wasn't expecting to be like, oh, the

9:18

lawnmower.

9:19

And again, it was really for just a few minutes and

9:22

I got it out there and we had

9:24

a crazy thing happen.

9:27

We had our house profession cleaned yesterday

9:32

and we have two showing scheduled. The

9:35

cleaner was at the top of the stairs

9:38

and had plugged in the vacuum cleaner at

9:40

the bottom of the stairs, but it went around, it wrapped

9:43

around. It wasn't like there was a socket right at the bottom of

9:45

the stairs, wrapped around.

9:46

Apparently, this is a good safety tip in all seriousness.

9:49

So like, you know the little prongs when you plug

9:51

something in? So she kept

9:53

twisting and bending it

9:56

and so the prong hit

9:59

inside of the socket.

10:01

I think I'm saying all the correct things here. So anyway,

10:03

it sounded so then I hear this, whoop, whoop.

10:06

And I thought, oh, that's like when a police car

10:09

pulls

10:09

over someone thought that's weird. Is

10:11

this coming from my house? Because I'm outside sweeping, doing

10:13

my feng shui again, I'm ready, put some potted

10:15

plants out. I'm like, holy

10:18

moly, this is our house.

10:20

So the wall had gotten scorched.

10:22

I was like, OMG. So the fire,

10:24

anyway, we've got CPI, fire came,

10:27

fire trucks were awesome.

10:29

And I was super excited because they're female. Anyway,

10:33

female fires as well. So this cute captain

10:35

comes in and he's like, well, let's just check it. Or, you know,

10:37

where's your husband? I'm like, I can't. Tony left his phone

10:40

at home, gone to the gym. I'm pulling my hair out.

10:42

Cause also Tony decides we're going to paint the garage.

10:44

So miracle, all miracles in

10:47

literally about two and a half hours before

10:49

the first showing was happening

10:51

and he had to leave for work. We've had

10:53

the garage painted. He went and got a new

10:55

socket. We had, I'm like, we had just had

10:58

a, you know, a month ago had the downstairs

11:00

pain as we had extra paint,

11:02

but it was crazy guy that literally scorched the wall.

11:04

And so

11:06

we got that done. It was insane

11:09

that we got that much down in a

11:11

couple of times.

11:12

Potential for family fighting is also going to come

11:14

up. Cause I was like, where are you? We're at the gym.

11:17

And I was like, and

11:19

so if you have emotions running

11:21

high, that's

11:22

likely to happen.

11:25

Have support. Maybe it's

11:27

your friend. I have been, God

11:29

love Cottie, we're emailing and I'm like,

11:31

I just got to get this off to someone. And

11:33

then I, my Alma mater has a

11:37

Facebook group of 40 and I said, Oh, I just got

11:39

to park this somewhere. Told him everything

11:41

that happened. And then we've had mostly

11:43

positive things said about our house, but

11:45

someone just was really mean spirited. And it's like,

11:47

you know, this is

11:48

our home. We put a lot of effort. We

11:50

put time, we put money, and

11:53

this is where we're hanging out. And if you don't like it,

11:55

I'm cool with that.

11:56

But they just made a just really ridiculous.

11:59

and that was stressful so I posted

12:01

everyone in the groups great, gave me my own advice,

12:04

don't take anything personally and

12:06

I've had a couple of realtors chime in. It's been

12:08

a really an interesting process.

12:10

So

12:10

make sure that you have some support in place

12:13

and maybe it's someone professional

12:15

and you know, okay,

12:17

I mean, because I will admit I swore

12:20

loudly

12:21

several times when that happened because I'm

12:23

like, what are you doing?

12:25

You guys, you know, you should know better. You're

12:27

pulling on the cord. It should cause

12:29

that. And that was just one other thing and then I had to go out

12:31

and find a new cover. But anyway, you

12:33

know, time that I didn't have

12:36

money I didn't want to spend and so, okay, breathe

12:38

Julie,

12:39

just breathe. So what is it that I need

12:41

to do

12:43

when stuff like that happens when the handyman

12:45

cancels?

12:46

Take a deep breath. Who can I ask?

12:49

Who is my support system for reaching out? Give

12:53

yourself the time and the space to

12:55

reminisce. One of the things I'm doing,

12:57

Tony and I are going to do part of the Feng Shui

12:59

is it's time to have

13:02

the energy and I'm going to do a sage and a clearing

13:04

for

13:05

the new people. This is going to be their home

13:07

where they're going to make memories and we're going to go around

13:09

each room. And like, for

13:11

instance, I'm in my office. I'm going to thank you for

13:14

allowing me to create income. Thank

13:16

you for our exercises in here. Thank

13:18

you for allowing this to be a space to be healthy

13:21

and

13:21

you know, look, glance up, it's rainy

13:23

and cold here. So she's in and she's

13:25

at the top of her cat tree.

13:27

So thank you for this being a place

13:29

where the cats can hang

13:31

out and feel safe. And

13:33

thank you for this is my office and where my computer

13:36

is and for allowing me to write my

13:39

books and to write the podcast and to write

13:41

and work with clients and all the good stuff. So I'm

13:44

allowing the time for us to do that, to go room by room,

13:47

talk to the outside, use a smudge stick.

13:53

Thanking that and thinking about different memories

13:55

that were created in different

13:58

rooms. And I remember So,

14:00

when my niece and nephew were here and they were little, so Claire

14:03

was three. And

14:05

so Max had been one and a half. I remember Max is

14:07

learning to walk and Claire can walk at this point

14:10

and she's running around through all the rooms

14:12

downstairs, zooming by him. And

14:14

she said to me, she said, Juju,

14:16

you don't shut doors. And she

14:18

pointed in my cabinets and I'll be darned.

14:21

I was like, oh my gosh, I've never

14:23

noticed that about myself.

14:24

I do not. I have this weird habit and I don't

14:26

shut the door. So I try to be a little bit better

14:29

since Claire called me out a decade ago about

14:31

that. But have the time

14:33

to reminisce about that or

14:35

if there's something sentimental, you're giving to a family

14:38

member. Give yourself the space to do that. And

14:42

spiritually, what can you do spiritually

14:45

as you're downsizing? Visualize

14:49

each day going smoothly that, okay,

14:52

like today I know I have to do, like tomorrow we have

14:54

to go to the credit union again. Again,

14:57

talk about not having control

14:59

of everything. We got everything set with our funding

15:01

and then the credit union reneged. So

15:04

I was like, okay, what's plan B?

15:06

Came up with plan B, plan B didn't work.

15:09

Said what's plan C. So we have a plan

15:11

now

15:12

and

15:13

I'm grateful for that.

15:15

Visualize okay, or when something arises,

15:18

I visualize myself, okay, I can handle

15:20

it. Now the scorched wall, little

15:23

bit stressful.

15:25

But doing that helps.

15:28

Take time each day to connect with your higher power,

15:30

whatever verbiage, God, universe

15:32

that you use, source. That

15:36

is going to keep you connected. It's

15:38

going to remind you that this

15:41

is just some little Shakespearean play

15:43

and it's all good and it's all going to work itself out

15:47

and to not get caught up in the little stuff.

15:51

Trust, you'll get what you need when you need

15:53

it. It's like when the handyman

15:56

canceled, I'm like, oh boy, am I grateful

15:58

for that? Because I thought he was ever.

15:59

And I thought, well,

16:01

you know what, you're just going to have to suck it up.

16:04

And it ended up, we got someone who's even better.

16:07

I think even more experienced overall

16:09

because he was a contractor. It worked out.

16:11

Try to get

16:13

into that mode as much as possible.

16:18

This is now a great time also

16:20

as

16:21

you are downsizing to practice

16:23

forgiveness and gratitude.

16:25

Forgiveness. So I'm working on forgiving the crappy

16:28

neighbors that I'm leaving.

16:29

Boy, am I, oh my gosh, am I grateful

16:31

for that. But working on forgiving.

16:34

Okay. Yes, as I'm having two showings

16:36

today and you let the trash in your, our big

16:39

white that's going to stick out on a gray day and green

16:41

grass. Okay. Just put it in the thing.

16:44

Just be grateful that you're working through your

16:46

karma. What can you forgive? Taking

16:49

time to do that

16:51

each and every day.

16:53

Forgive

16:56

anyone that you're able to. I think I shared at

16:58

one point about things that I'm doing. And so one

17:01

thing I'm doing every day is to send

17:03

someone love. I picked someone like it

17:05

was Tony. It was Cottie and

17:08

different people and do Cottie's cat next

17:11

month. Cause he's having

17:13

some challenges. And so the fur

17:15

babies, all that. So my goal with

17:17

that is, and I don't know if I can do this by the end

17:19

of the year, but I'm going to try is

17:21

to send love to people

17:24

I don't like, send love to people that a

17:26

couple of people don't think did right by me.

17:28

And I'm hoping that I'll be able to do that by the end of

17:30

the year. We'll see. Maybe I can do it next year, but

17:32

with regular practice, it's

17:35

a possibility. Take

17:38

actions from today's podcast. Make

17:43

decisions on who gets

17:45

what. Decide

17:49

what's most important with your physical items.

17:52

Time, money, peace

17:55

of mind, create

17:58

a support system for.

17:59

the emotional aspect of downsizing.

18:06

Allow time to honor your

18:08

emotions, all of them. Stay

18:13

connected to your spiritual or

18:16

religious practice.

18:20

Trust it will all work out in the end.

18:25

Go out, clear your clutter

18:28

to create the life you choose, deserve

18:30

and desire. Clearing

18:33

your clutter allows you to share your gifts

18:36

with the world. Get your free

18:38

self-assessment to discover your

18:40

clutter priority at reawakenyourbrilliance.com.

18:45

If you've enjoyed Clear Your Clutter Inside and

18:47

Out, please rate, review,

18:49

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