I have been thinking a lot about personal freedom in the last few days. Not the kind that fuels marches on Washington, but the kind that is made from choices we select in our lives.

This was triggered by the deleting of files from my just-abandoned web gig. I was done last Wednesday, and had been slowly deleting things about three weeks ago. However, Friday, I removed that email account and it wiped out most of the files associated with it. I deleted many, many files on my harddrive. And, Saturday, I began cleaning the office, including recycling MOUNDS of paperwork from the job. All meaningless and useless, in a flip of a switch. Exquisite joy associated with the deletion process.

And why, did they take up so much bandwidth and energy and angst when they were still neatly (or not so neatly with regards to the paperwork) filed?

I feel lighter and energized and well, free from that heaviness. Yet, it was heaviness of my own choosing. I knew it when I said "yes," and indeed, it was worse than I anticipated, but some part of me knew.

I chose it. And now I choose to feel free.

The act of cleaning and shreading is also so obviously symbolic, and also such the place I'm in. Spring cleaning, several months early, freedom is found in getting rid of anything that does not fit this life now. Give it away, recycle it or sell it, it doesn't matter, but it must be cleaved from this household.

It is a purification and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is amazing to do this on all levels, too -- to choose to sweep out the dark reaches of your psyche, and to get rid of that damn little outfit that hasn't fit in years. They go hand and hand, and my body lifts and yearns toward lightness.

At the same time, we've built a raised bed in the back yard -- pentagon shaped! -- to sow in new veggies. This is the opposite, and perfect match for divesting of the obsolete. Investing in growth, in blooming, in dirt and homegrown food. Now to buy the loamy soil and fill up the box, both with dirt and plants.

One of my deep-seated knowings is that what I do in this lifetime is all about breaking chains that bind, and preparing to survive and thrive in the highest way I can. It only makes sense that in this time of purge, that it is also a time to plant seedlings and seeds.

Out of the muck will burst the most delicious and beautiful of creatures. I just know it. I anticipate feasting on so many levels.