Emptying the cup

This is the Monday page from my journal:


I had so many plans for this week and suddenly all of them had to go on hold... These are the consequences of going out without the hat on, my sinuses refused to work and that was it.
Fortunately I am feeling a bit better today so I decided to write about what I am up to.

100 Day Challenge - day 16

You probably already know this famous Zen strory, but let me quote it here, it's short:

A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

I believe that irrespective of any religious or philosophical beliefs, this story applies to all of us and to every sphere of our existence. In order to receive we have to give (or give up) something, to make space for the new things and ideas to come. So on Sunday I decided to empty my cup and got rid of all the clothes that were:
1. too old and tattered to wear, even around the house
2. too small, let's face it - I won't ever fit in them and seeing them in the wardrobe was too frustrating!
3. not worn at all, of different reasons (not my style, not fitting with any other clothes, ect)

This is the biggest bin liner I found, 120 l, so you can imagine the scale of my cleaning! *^v^*
With this move I'm hoping to gain some physical space for the new fitting clothes but also, or maybe first of all, the emotional space and piece of mind of not being forced to choose from the things I didn't feel comfortable with. Now I can gradually fill my wardrobe with clothes that I will like and wear! *^v^*

Look what I got on Monday! ^^

A postcard from Myriam, who safely arrived to Germany and is now spending time with her family. It was such a nice surprise in the era of e-mails and e-cards to get a proper paper postcard I could hold in my hand (it's on my fridge right now)!

Now I can feel I need some rest so I'm off to bed for a while, but one more thing before I go - if you're interested in my latest paintings (or any other paintings), they didn't sell on ebay so I moved them to my etsy.

Keep warm!