Downsizing

Image - The might and struggle of Ego

Individuals that have put on adequate number of mileage on their own body/physicality, tend to talk about downsizing. Generally, their offsprings have left their comfortable nest, which is no more manageable for aging dreams. So the talk is now about downsizing, which reflects in various adjustments of personal ego and dreams along with the pain of reality. A multitude of questions crowd the mind to stretch the reality further.

On the contrary, a Sparrow couple leaves its nest soon after teaching its offsprings how to fly out of the nast and then promptly leave it themselves without even taking any baggage. But humans claim to be superior and consequently deal with it differently.

The heaviest baggage that humans trying to downsize have to deal with is attachments and ego, which is the cumulative accumulation over unaccountable period….

The most common topics confronting Seniors living in cities trying to downsize seem to be :

Which books in the private library should be discarded or gifted and to whom? No one wants them besides you since it is your baggage.

Which accumulated material possessions should be discarded ? The list of mindless accumulation  is endless ranging from screwdrivers, cutlery, to top coats.  

Often, in the process of downsizing, several seniors sprain their backs mostly because of the emotional stress of downsizing personal baggage and ego.

In the journey of Life, each one of us tends to accumulate hell-of-a-lot of superfluous baggage in the form of presumptuous scholarship, and judgemental opinions that bundle up as our emotional baggage. Most of it, we accumulate mindlessly from the outside, and find it emotionally so heavy and hard to part with.

When we do not willingly downsize ourselves, outside natural forces automatically take care of it.

Image - Rama taking aim at Ravana’s mighty ego.

How much downsizing to do and not to do remains an ever vexing quandary. The ultimate reality of existence in the form of death and ultimate transformation automatically strips each one of us naked from our accumulated baggage.  

A wholesome concept of downsizing that I have witnessed was from Sarojini, my one and only sister. Even after reaching Senior status, she did not bother to discard any of her household items; knowing fully well that her spouse has been a lifelong passionate accumulator and hoarder.

Instead, every evening in her spacious and homely nest, she diligently engulfed herself in her silent Meditation mode in a comfortable quiet space. She humbly confided in her sole thought:

“ At birth, my body was gifted to me by Nature in a pure state. At the end of my life journey, I wish to return/submit my body back to Nature in the same pure state as I had received it “. That was the sole self-enriching purpose of her Meditation.

I was by her bedside for several hours daily during the last two weeks of her life. Watching her lay on the bed peacefully detached from her surrounding environment until her last breath, was one of the most peaceful transition of life on to the other side of life that I have ever witnessed; providing a precious silent message of emotional detachment to bear in heart.

The effortlessness reflecting through her demeanor during the last 15 years including the last two weeks of her life was abundant testimony to the downsizing that she had cherished for herself. She was religious and spiritual in a sense that seemed most appropriate to her; a way of merging and dissolving completely in universal consciousness.