Dad, the boys, and I have been working on the purging project downstairs. We started this week and scheduled it into the family calendar. So far we’ve got three garbage bags plus several emptied and condensed bins. I told the boys they have to be ruthless. A client told me today how she was feeling bad about leaving her dog. I feel the same way. It’s the hardest part when they’re older. I need to know that they’re busy and happy and that I’m not the one responsible for keeping them that way.

Today was a Thrive day. I was expecting to be there by myself but the boss’s SUV was there when I pulled into the parking lot. So I went upstairs and said hello and I thought you weren’t supposed to be here. He said he has too much to do. I didn’t want to stay too long so I went back downstairs and got the room ready and opened my computer to write a note from the day before.

The day before I’d been reading again from one of the books in the office. Someone had asked me if I had any books I could recommend for a particular situation and I didn’t know any off the top of my head. So I was paging through the book called Codependent No More by Melody Beattie. In the self-care section there was a chapter about Detachment, which was about unhooking your mind and energy from people and problems so you can have peace. I thought this would be a helpful chapter for her.

I actually thought it would be great for a lot of people and that I could even make copies of this particular chapter to just have to hand out when needed. I don’t know how to explain to people, and before this I wouldn’t have had the words, that you’re putting too much thought and worry into this certain particular thing. It all sounds good on paper, but they ask, “But how do I actually do it?”

How do you detach? I don’t really love the word Detachment. I like instead the word Containment, where you can visualize not leaking energy and having a place where it’s held. With detachment I picture strings all over the place coming mostly from your head. You’ve got to pull all the strings and put them all back into your head so that they’re not sticking out from your head like a static ball. I mean, the most practical thing is investing energy back into your life where the strings are real.