Freecycle Recycle: Lessons from the Fish Tank
by Alexandra Windsong, July 2009
©2009, Alexandra Windsong, All Rights Reserved

About a year and a half a go, I got my first fish tank. This came about after I had rearranged and redecorated my healing room here at The Healing Way, and I realized that I now had an 'empty space' in the room that needed something. But, what? I tried many things, eventually deciding on a five gallon hexagonal fish tank that seemed to be the perfect fit in many ways. Little did I know that getting that fish tank would be the beginning of a series of life lessons and a never ending source of new ideas and inspirations. It would also be the first of several more fish tanks. But how they multiplied is a story for another day.

Last fall, I wrote my first article about the fish tanks, 'Lessons from the Fish Tank: The Beginning', in which I shared my initial experiences and what I had learned about myself and life in general while looking for and setting up this tank. At the time, I thought that I would share my observations and experiences in a series of articles in a sequential, i.e. logical manner. You know, in the order in which things actually happened. But no, after my initial article about how it all began, here I am writing about how it all ended, at least for the original tank, and the last lesson I learned from that fish tank. Or is it?

I see now that even as I write this article, I learn another lesson, or rather re-learn it. I am reminded to go with the flow, to let things come about in their own time, in their own way, in the order in which the Universe plans things and not according to my schedule or agenda. And you know, most of the time, I am pretty good at it, being flexible and rolling with the punches that is.  But in some areas of my life . . .  um, not so much. So, perhaps this is the final lesson from my first fish tank, to remember that sometimes it is important to tell things in the order in which they need to be told or shared. Not necessarily in the order in which they happened, or the order in which I believe they should be told.

And so, what I thought was the last lesson was actually the next to the last lesson I learned from my first fish tank. And here it is . . .

When I set this fish tank up, I was so excited. It was perfect, exactly what I was looking for. It added life and light to the space and was just the right size. However, over the next year, things changed. As the fish began to multiply, certain species have a tendency to do that, and I acquired larger tanks to accommodate them, I began to see the limitations of this little tank. It's design and size made it more difficult to care for than my newer, larger tanks. It's size also made it challenging to find fish that would actually do well in that size tank. By the way, don't believe what they tell you at the fish store as to how many fish you can keep in a certain size tank. I learned that one the hard way.

Eventually, I ended up moving all the fish to other tanks and I put a single beta fish, they like to live alone (actually they kill any other fish you put with them), and a few red cherry shrimp in the original five gallon tank. And all was well for a while. It was still a pain to clean and maintain when compared to my newer larger tanks, but other than that it was, okay, until the day the filtration system died that is, just a little over a year after I bought the tank. Bummer. The kicker was that the filtration system for this particular tank was built into the hood. It wasn't going to be as simple as popping in a new filtration unit. If I wanted to replace it I was going to have to order one from the company who made the tank. And get this. It would cost more to replace the filtration system on this five gallon tank than it would be to buy a whole new ten gallon tank! Replacing the filtration system for this tank didn't make sense, at least to me anyway.

So I decided to move the red cherry shrimp, who cannot survive without a filtration system, to one of the other tanks, and to leave the beta, who could do just fine without a filtration system, in the five gallon tank. Seemed like a good plan. But then, eventually the beta fish got sick and died. Okay, I had to euthanize him because he was sick, but that's another story, and not a happy one. But not everything in life is fun or pleasant. Yet, another reality of life encapsulated in the microcosm of the fish tank.

Anyway, with the passing of the beta fish, I now had a choice. Get another beta fish, or some other type of fish that could live in a tank that size without filtration, or get rid of the tank. I didn't really want another beta fish, or a gold fish for that matter. And I was getting pretty tired of taking care of this tank. I found that I was enjoying my newer larger tanks a whole lot more than this one. Suddenly, I realized my perfect little tank wasn't so perfect anymore. It was time to let it go.

And how many times in life does that happen to us? Whether it's an item we bought, a career we chose or perhaps a relationship, something that was once a good idea or seemed just perfect for us no longer is. And it is time to let it go, to move on. And sometimes that can be difficult and sometimes it can be easy. But more often than not, we resist letting go. It's amazing how often we hold on to something, or someone, that is no longer right for us, even when holding on is to our own detriment, and sometimes theirs as well.

Fortunately, one of the things I have learned over the years is to move on when something is no longer right for me. I'm not saying I always 'get it' immediately, but I 'get it' more quickly than I used to. So while I toyed with a few alternate ideas as to what to do with the fish tank, it might make a nice terrarium for example, I decided I didn't want to be bothered with it. It was truly time to let go of this once perfect item.

So what to do with it? I didn't want to just throw it in the trash. It wasn't totally worthless after all. And just because I didn't have a use for it anymore didn't mean somebody else might not find it useful. Maybe somebody else might want to turn it into a terrarium or something. And that's where Freecycle came into the picture.

The first time I heard of Freecycle was a few years ago from a couple of friends. One of them had actually furnished her entire office from Freecycle, and it didn't cost her a thing to furnish her office this way. I had been curious about Freecycle when they mentioned it, but had never really checked it out for myself. Maybe now it was time to learn a little more about it.

So what exactly is Freecycle? It's an email list where you can post items that you want to get rid of, or even items that you are looking for, where lots of people can see it. The concept is simple. Keep as much junk out of the landfills as possible and since one man's trash can be another man's treasure, what you no longer want or need may be useful to someone else. So pass it on.

And that's what I decided to do. I logged onto Yahoo groups, searched for a local Freecycle email list, Frederick County has one as do many other cities and counties, and posted my item. Voila! Within hours I had several people interested in this little item. And here's the best part, at least for me, not only do you get rid of your unwanted item without tossing it in the landfill, but the person who wants it comes to pick it up. You can even make it a porch pick up, meaning you leave it outside for them to pick up at their convenience. Can it get any easier?

But wait, there's more. The first person who responded to my posting was extremely interested in my little fish tank. Her daughter's birthday was coming up in a few days and they wanted to get her a hermit crab as a birthday present. She was so excited. My little fish tank would make a perfect home for her daughter's present. She had her husband pick up the tank within hours of my posting. Problem solved for me. No more fish tank. And I can't tell you how good it felt to know that my little fish tank was going to play a part in some little girl's happy birthday. Not only did I get rid of my unwanted item, somebody else was now going to benefit from it, and it wasn't going into the landfill. How cool is that?

Since then I have Freecycled more items I no longer need or want. And I have plans to Freecycle some old electronics that are now obsolete and have no value to me, but someone else may want them for parts or who knows what use they might find for them, maybe turn them into a work of art. You just never know what use someone else might find for your castoffs, no matter what condition they may be in. I often see people posting and taking broken or outdated items on Freecycle. And that's the beauty of letting things go. What no longer serves you may be a treasure to someone else.

And here comes the most important part of this lesson. Everything that you own or have in your life, takes space, space in your life, space in your home, and space in your head. It doesn't matter whether it's an idea, a belief, a possession, a commitment, a relationship or a hobby. It still takes up space in one form or another. And you only have so much space in your home, in your office, in your schedule, in your head and in your life. And when you hold onto things that no longer serve you, not only do they take up space, space that is now wasted on something that is not useful to you, they can actually detract from your life rather than enhance it. And letting these things go, frees you up, making room for something else, for new ideas, for new experiences and for things that actually enrich your life rather than detract from it. Furthermore, when you let go of these things, you free them up for something else as well, something useful. For example, rather than gathering dust in my basement, I passed the fish tank on to someone else who would find it useful and enjoy it.

"But Alex," you may be saying to yourself, "That's all well and good, when it's a thing. But it's different with people."

But not really. Relationships take up space in your life too. And if you hold on to them when they are no longer appropriate to your life, they can be very stressful as well. And believe me, whether it's a friendship, a romantic relationship, or a business partnership, if it's not working for you, then it's not working for them either, at least not in a way that is in everyone's best interest. And by letting go, not only do you free up the 'dead space' that they occupy in your life for something else, you relinquish the 'dead space' that you  occupy in their life, freeing them up for new experiences and relationships that are more fulfilling for them as well.

And what about jobs or commitments to causes or organizations? Well, maybe someone else would love that job that you now hate or no longer enjoy. And you moving on to something else that does excite you, gives someone else the opportunity to take that job, or position, and do it with the passion and dedication that you no longer feel for it. Everybody wins.

So remember, just because something was once perfect for you, doesn't mean it always will be perfect for you. And it's okay to let go and move on if and when that time comes. In fact, by letting go, you may be playing a part in making someone else happy, including yourself.


For more information about Alexandra Windsong, Spiritual & Intuitive Healer at The Healing Way in Frederick, MD,  click here.

To learn more about Freecycle, visit Yahoo Groups at www.groups.yahoo.com and search for a Freecycle group in your area. Follow this link to the Frederick Freecycle group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FrederickFreecycle/

Happy Recycling!

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©2009, Alexandra Windsong, All Rights Reserved.