I’m in the middle of reading “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. Part of the message is that you can’t have room for the new things, until you’ve gotten rid of the old things. Personally I think this is 100% true, but man it can be such a deal to let go of the old stuff! Am i right?!

This could be happening in any area of your life, but few things epitomize this struggle better than the dreaded family photos in a property for sale. Especially when they are really big… and mounted in a very prominent place, like over the fireplace or in the entryway. Sometimes it’s even an amazing life-size wedding portrait, a close runner-up to the full size family portrait.

There they are. Everyone who still lives here. Staring at every potential buyer as they walk through the door.

Message to all who enter: This is our house.

Literally ~ energetically ~ refusing to take down big family portraits is the same thing as when your pet goes around peeing all over everything to mark their territory. You are keeping your space ‘marked’ as yours. And buyers don’t like the smell.

If you can’t, or won’t take down the family pics, you’re just not ready. Ready meaning, your energy is still in your current house, you’re not ready to let it go. On some level, you are still super attached. And that’s okay… just stop, and do this first. Consider it the official seller’s homework.

Get out a pen and paper, sit down, take a deep breath, ask yourself these questions and write down whatever comes up:

• Why don’t I want to take down the family photos? {or my china doll collection, or high school trophies, or political posters, etc. ~ you get my drift}
• When I physically walk over to take the picture off of the wall, what do I feel?
• Why am I uncomfortable?
• What is making me sad about moving?
• What is my favorite thing about this house
• What about this house doesn’t work for me/us anymore

There isn’t a right or wrong answer to any of these, it’s just important that you are tuning into yourself and becoming aware of why you are feeling everything. The last two are really good ways of helping you see your {physical} space in present time, and pull all of that affinity of yours back into your own space, instead of having it spread all over your house.

If you want to help get your energy into what you are creating, you can also write these things down:

• My new house will feel…. {finish the sentence}
• What does my new house need to have that my current one doesn’t?
• What are things you are excited about with your move? {like ~ my amazing new job, discovering a new neighborhood, my growing family that needs more space, starting a new renovation, whatever it is for you}

Also, try making a celebration out of moving. Take a picture on the day you move in, boxes all around, pizza picnic on the floor, whatever. Then, take a photo when it’s time to move out. You can do it on move-out day, but if you are having a hard time even getting ready to move, maybe it’s a pic of the current family with the big ass family portrait {off of the wall}. Trust me, it will bring amusement and help you get movement, I promise. Maybe you cry a little because one aspect of something you really love is ending. And that’s totally perfect and exactly right too. Give yourself a ‘hello’ about what a big deal it is to move, your life is changing and growing and that’s amazing, celebrate it and get moving into having your new thing!