And if anyone is an Enneagram Seven, or has an obsession with any type of collection gathering, this time is coming for you too.

In my lifetime I’ve collected everything from advertising memorabilia, to craft supplies to Disney merchandise. And it didn’t stop with toys and gadgets. I’m fairly confident I’ve amassed one of the largest libraries of graphic design, craft and movie marketing books in all of Southern California. Yes, I’m the first to admit, I’ve been a collect-aholic, And now I am paying the ultimate price. Weight…pulling on wings. Wind…pushing against flight.

It’s taken several years to reach the decisions I now make more effortlessly. I have feared, faced and fought resistance, defiance, denial, ignorance and indifference. I cluttered my thoughts, crowded my surroundings and drowned my inner voice to the point of mute. I experienced many painful months trying with all my will to extract my voice, my words, my heart but there was simply too much in the way. Today, I am grateful for the conviction of my fight and for my easily distracted mind awakening enough to listen to the cracks within the bulging walls. My choices are now healthier and come from self love.

You see these things, these objects and obsessions, they do not define us. And so we must not allow them to strangle us. Bound paper, sculpted plastics, manufactured products, even perhaps relationships unfounded in mutuality are designed to lull us into a false state of security, wisdom and inspiration.