As this Holiday Season begins to wind down, it is time to look forward towards the New Year, and the possibilities for new dreams. Take your house, it isn’t just a place where you store your stuff. It’s a place where you store your life, your memories, and your dreams. Even when you’re excited about selling your old home, breaking up can be hard to do.
With all my experience in real estate, I know that this is true whether you’re saying goodbye to a home that holds many years of special memories or a house that you’ve lived in for a relatively short period of time. Every moment you’ve spent in that home has been a part of your life and growth.
I’ve gathered some of my favorite tips for saying goodbye to a home to help home sellers navigate their way through this emotionally conflicting experience. This soothing ritual creates closure as it locks in your favorite memories and sets a clear moment in time to shift from remembering the past to honoring the present and blessing the future. This simple, yet powerful ceremony will help you, your family, and your friends prepare for this life-changing adventure.
You can do this ceremony by yourself, with your housemates or with a few friends. All you need is a candle, a bowl of water, and a bundle of sage (optional). Symbolically, the candle burns off what is old and no longer useful to you, while the water is a gathering place for your most meaningful memories and blessings. Sage has been used for centuries to cleanse and clear spaces.
The ceremony begins with everyone sitting in a circle around the lit candle. Slowly pass the bowl of water clockwise from person to person. As each person takes the bowl of water, they touch the water with their fingertips and share a favorite memory from their time in the house. When the bowl has been all around the circle, place it by the candle.
Next, light the sage and carry it from room to room, stopping to express your gratitude for each room and the events that took place in it. As the purifying smoke rises from the sage, imagine it blessing each room with gratitude and clearing out any past negativity. If you are performing this ceremony without sage just imagine a cleansing white smoke wafting through the room, purifying and blessing as it travels.
When you have finished memorializing each room, return to your circle around the candle. Pick up the bowl of water once more, but pass it counter-clockwise this time. As each person holds the bowl they say a blessing for the home and its new owners. While voicing their blessing, the speaker should dip their fingertips into the bowl once more and flick the water from their fingertips towards the outside of the circle to share that blessing with the home.
To end the ceremony, only the people moving speak now. They tell about the hopes and dreams they had when they first moved into the home and their hopes and dreams for their next home. When the sharing is complete, all those who are moving lean in towards the candle. Simultaneously, they inhale deeply then blow out the flame.
It’s a beautiful ceremony that leaves you free to go forward and create the new life you deserve. Each and every move is an opportunity to leave the past behind and step boldly into the present as you say farewell to the old and start anew.
This is why I love real estate. I have the joy of helping people find the home that helps them be who they are and become who they want to be. Moving forward to exciting new opportunities is both liberating and refreshing. Changing homes isn’t a sacrifice; it’s a renewal. You get to ignite your imagination and enhance your life with new opportunities.
When you’re ready to shed the old and embrace your future, I’m here to help. Contact me by phone, text, or email. I am Stephen Burchard, The Desert Bowtie Realtor, taking the (k)nots out of real estate.
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