What Is Essential?

Throughout my pilgrimage, I’ve been very conscious of the principle that pilgrims carry only the essentials.

The question that of course follows from that principle is: What is essential?

I recently completed the 2021 Autumn Alignment Kit (get your free download here), and it was about that question.

It contains reflections on:

• The essence of you
• The essentials of your life
• Taking essential action

But it didn’t address STUFF, and what, of our stuff, is essential.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been feeling a strong urge to confront the essential nature (or not) of my stuff, in my mind and heart, as well as in action, so I have launched campaign to clear all non-essential stuff from my life.

But, and it’s a big but: how do you decide what’s essential?

The answer to that question isn’t as obvious as it might first appear, and it may differ individually.

There’s no shortage of advice out there on that issue.

I read a few books, each with a different perspective.

The one that resonated most strongly with me was the Marie Kondo approach of “Does it spark joy?”

However, when I began clearing, it rapidly became apparent that approach wasn’t working for me, and that the criteria were different for me.

What’s important to me to decide are:

• Is it “me” now?
• Does it support me in being me?
• Does it support me in what I’m up to in my life?
• Will I treasure it with my love and attention?

I’m picking up every item I own, and deciding whether to keep it or re-home it, based on these criteria.

At first glance, it may seem like this is an overly complicated approach, but I quickly developed an ability to intuitively sense whether an item meets those criteria.

How do you decide what is essential for you?