Two or three days after our house burned down, I was at my usual manicure appointment with Katy, making a numb effort to get back to something called normal.

But the big gulping noises, runny nose, and torrents of tears gave me away, the minute I sat down. As I sputtered and lurched my way through the story of what had just happened to us, Katy, visibly brightened.

Now, that just shut me right up. She was smiling from ear to ear.

“This saved your life! This is a blessing!” she said, still beaming.

Huh??

Because I have always admired Katy, I was willing to listen…..and I was so stunned by her response……I had no choice.  Katy has lived many chapters in her relatively short life.  She brings so much more to the manicure table than her skill with polish and top coat.  One of nine children, growing up in a horrendous and harrowing Vietnam—she made her way to the United States, and put herself through college by working all night in a factory. She has been instrumental in bringing the rest of her family to the United States, including her elderly parents. She owns her home and raises her two children as a single mom. She is kind and elegant and proud of what she does. Her book is filled with long time clients who adore her as much as I do. She is also a devout Buddhist.

As she explained to me—-When we lose the THINGS we are attached to, only then, do we find OURSELVES.

As a Christian minister myself, I thought I had that concept pretty well incorporated into my life. As much as I love beautiful things—–my first reaction to the phone call from friends who delivered the terrible news—-was the gaping hole of grief I felt for the loss of my time and energy and effort that went into creating our “dream home” over an 18 month period. My life, my brain, and nearly every waking minute had been consumed with getting it all done, in a location more than an hour and a half away, dealing with the workmen and the widgets, getting every picture hung, making certain every bed and towel were fluffy and comfortable.  It was grueling and relentless.

Again, she said, “Your house was taken away because it had begun to take away YOUR LIFE and YOUR ENERGY. Now that your house is gone, you are free. You can now become the person you were meant to be.”

My tears went away that day. In the time it took to polish ten nails.

I wonder how often we get caught up in the fluffing, and the fixing and the thinking that having more and acquiring more and managing more is what we are meant to do. It is part of being successful, isn’t it? More of everything, all the time. Isn’t THAT the American Dream?

Maybe Divine forces are at work—-freeing us from MORE THINGS in order to find MORE OF OURSELVES.