I packed up my jewelry box last night, keeping out just a pair of earrings and three rings. Folders not needed for the next few weeks are in boxes, as are blankets and the seldom used kitchen items.

I’ve also packed up things not coming on this move – clothes, glassware, and book club books are in bags and boxes, bound for local non-profit thrift stores.

Even at work, I’m boxing things – cleaning and organizing a basement long overdue for such an effort. What is in poor shape is getting thrown away or recycled. What is good but not necessary is going to other libraries or community programs. At this point, I am surrounded by boxes.

I wonder what message the cosmos offers with these boxes and packing them. Today, I think it’s something like this: Appreciate the essentials that you have. Let go of what burdens rather than blesses. Hand on what can bless someone else’s life.

Perhaps it’s meant to encourage me to do with my inner life what I am now doing in my outer one – appreciate, declutter, bless others.