Not Just Any Post-Its

Saturday, at Zen Hospice we did the Post-Its exercise. Although, I had gone through it twice before, this time was no less powerful. It goes like this:

1. Pick 16 blank square Post-Its, broken out into four categories of four, from four different colors
2. Lay them out on a sheet of paper
3. In the first category, write down your four most precious material possessions, one per Post-It
4. In the second category, write down your four most liked activities, one per Post-It
5. In the third category, write down your four most  favorite roles, one per Post-It
6. In the fourth category, write down your four most dear people, one per Post-It
7. Become aware of the feelings, thoughts, sensations as you go through exercise
8. Next, you are being asked by group facilitator to pick one item in each category and surrender it to him
9. Stay very aware of what is going on inside, as you hand items over to person, and look into his eyes
10. Next, you are to pick four more items, this time from any category
11. Again, notice what happens as you give those up as well
12. Last, facilitator goes around the room for the third time, and picks any number of items from different people, at random
13. What does it feel like?

Very, very powerful, not just in terms of helping one get a sense of what it must be like to face one's end of life, but also in terms of clarifying for oneself, what it is that really matters. It was certainly the case for me, as I found myself contemplating the universe of my attachments, and the differing degrees to which I am attached to different things, and activities, and roles, and people.