Don't deny it. Whether or not you consider yourself a creative type, truth is that you are constantly creating ideas.

Mindfulness invites you to be aware of this constantly flowing river, and offers an opportunity to choose to sit beside it instead of swimming in it. By watching ideas from that calm riverbank, you can more clearly see ones that float to top and sparkle in sun.

But mindfulness is more than just mind watching mind. When we are engaged in process of creating--whether that's words, numbers, music, art, or movement--without getting swept up in concept of where it might be leading, that is a very pure form of mindfulness.

If creating is mindfulness in action, little push that gets things moving is thrill of discovery. As humans, we are fascinated by novelty, and we are pulled by our joy of seeing something in a new light.

Mindfulness allows us to approach world with childlike wonder, to play with new concepts, and to see things from a shifted perspective. You can't always engage in new activities, but through mindfulness, you can look at same-old same-old with fresh eyes.

The Wow of Wonder is what stimulates us to be creative. Without it, we are likely to come down with our culture's most prevalent malady--mindlessness. Mindlessness causes us to move through life without really connecting to any of it. It's living on auto-pilot. It's living without wonder--or fun.

My journey began eight years ago and even today I am still letting go except items have thinned out considerably. I discovered through time that process needed to occur in increments and in small amounts. It was as if I needed to grieve a little in between. Even though that may sound stupid, it does to me too, it¡¯s my naked truth.

It began at my medicine chest. During my first honestly aware visit it was all I could do but toss out a few expired pills. Every week thereafter over next month all I could do was remove one item here and there. Setting a goal of one a day only worked in spurts. Eventually, cabinet, which didn't have much in first place, was fully functional and only what I really needed.

Then came linen closet and afterwards my home office. I sold a majority of my books on Amazon. As my shelves became more honest, and of course lighter, my writing began to change. My productivity doubled, my focus, commitment, and clarity took leaps. This was one of my happiness times during this project. The more I let go, more my writing improved. I also made a New Year¡¯s resolution to stop buying books for a year. For an avid reader and book junkie this was painfully hard. I'm proud to say I made it to September before I broke.

The New Year¡¯s resolution included a side point -- I had to read to let go of every book on my shelf that I hadn't already read or that didn't fit my current needs. This philosophy is still in effect. The next year I progressed and came up with one-book in and one-book out policy. I'm not always successful, yet, I've found it a good rule of thumb, especially for wallet. The sale profits sit in a savings account and account only allows one withdrawal a month. This maintains orderly spending for my weakest link -- buying too many books. It worked for a few years until I developed my own discipline and discernment. Was it easy, heck no! In fact, I can remember times when my logic and desires were in boxing ring. Does it get easier, heck yes!