SIMPLE // MEET DENA

I've had the pleasure over the past few weeks of getting to know Dena, who writes the Blog Live. Love. Simple. I fell in love with her Blog title first, if I'm being honest, but my admiration for Dena + her wise ways soon grew. Take a peek at her deep and intelligent writing, and adorable fam dam... you'll soon be star-struck, too. I'm so glad to have found her! I asked her to share with me how she manages to keep her life simple. Because, duh, that's something I struggle with daily! This is what she said:

HOW TO KEEP LIFE SIMPLE AS A MAMA (AKA How to Accomplish the Impossible)

 

Four years ago, I embarked on a journey toward minimalism. I got rid of a lot. You can read all about that here, but today I want to write about minimalism -- or simple living -- and motherhood.

 

It may seem like the two things are impossible to put together, but it can be done... sometimes! We live in a small house and don't have many possessions as compared with the average American family. We've always felt that stuff not only clutters your space, but it also clutters your soul. Plus, if I'm being honest, it's hard enough for me to keep our little house and our little stuff clean as it is. Because simplicity is such an integral part of our lives/happiness/sanity, we talked a lot about simplicity + parenthood before we decided to start a family.

 

I am a big fan of conscious living. I think it's important to evaluate my life and decisions often. One way that I do this is to write down my values once in awhile and reflect on how I am doing in terms of living them. Every time I write down my values, simplicity ends up in my top five. My values usually look something like this: 1. Family / 2. Creativity / 3. Simplicity / 4. Health / 5. Kindness. I have found that the easiest way to keep life simple is to constantly evaluate my decisions (purchases, actions, and so on) against my values. Before I bring anything into our home I ask myself: Does this align with my values? This holds true for things, people, and even ideas. I constantly ask myself: Is this serving me (and my family) well? If the answer is no, I just get rid of it.

 

I have ended "friendships;" quit jobs, and purged many possessions through this method. It's simple but it's also incredibly effective. Motherhood definitely adds a challenging element to the mix. I thought that my husband was going to keel over after my baby shower when I arrived home with a Ford F150 truck bed full of baby stuff. Literally. He said, I don't understand. It's just one, little baby. He was genuinely confused.

 

The fact is that, yes, babies and children need a lot of stuff. But really they don't need as much as the big baby/kid stores would have you believe. We received more little clothing and blankets than we could have used if we'd had triplets. A lot of the stuff ended up going back to the store and got exchanged for other practical necessities like baby food and diapers. It may be tempting to have fifty different adorable onesies, but it's not necessary. Excessive-ness like that will only cause you more headaches and more laundry.

 

Roman is just five-months-old but we plan to maintain our family value of simplicity throughout his life and to, hopefully, pass it along to him. I am happier and healthier since I've started living simply. It doesn't always work. I would be lying if I didn't admit that Roman has three adorable pairs of shoes and he can't even crawl yet, let alone walk. But, at the end of the day, it's all about balance. Like I always say, "Give a little. Take a little. Donate A LOT.

 

 

Thanks for reading. You can check out more about my little family over at my blog, Live, Love, Simple and you can connect with us at Live, Love, Simple on Facebook, too. xo    -Dena

 

Let's keep the positivity + simplicity going! How do you keep life from getting out-of-hand?

Is it a priority for you? What have you found that works and what have you found that doesn't? Please comment below.

 

and as always, please: