A cleansing of sorts has been happening around me lately, mostly by my own doing. Old junk finds its way to the rubbish bins (nope, not English - just like typing the word rubbish), craft corners are becoming more orderly, and things that don't ultimately make me + Bob happy are working their way into what I'm very hopefully referring to as the Memorial Day Weekend Yard Sale Pile!
We have talked for years about living minimally, even getting our hopes up when we scaled back by about 95% to move across country with nothing more than what fit in our minivan, but since then we've ebbed and flowed over the concept so many times that we're starting all over again.
Having twins brings a chaos to one's life that is simply unavoidable. Where there would be one wardrobe there are now two - only not separate and tidy but instead entangled and typically piled high in any empty corner. And replace the word wardrobe with anything child-related: high chair, crib, toddler bed, mess from lunch, etc. You see what I'm saying? Then we added an additional toddler to the mix and things got exponentially messy. I could keep up with twins - two arms, boobs, hands, what-have-you - but three is a different story. I don't know how mom's blessed with more than two are doing it, I really don't. I guess the simple answer is you just do.
Anyway, all of that is a very long-winded way of saying that I am in desperate need of some order and beauty in my world. That does not, to clarify, translate into more "stuff" in general but rather a selection of things that bring only joy when they're held, looked at, used, etc.
I could really use some help as I go back and forth on this concept constantly. What have you done lately to organize your life? What steps do you suggest for living minimally and/or scaling back? Thank you in advance, friends. [Washi tape here.]
I could really use some help as I go back and forth on this concept constantly. What have you done lately to organize your life? What steps do you suggest for living minimally and/or scaling back? Thank you in advance, friends. [Washi tape here.]
I have this washi tape! Hahah! Love it! I use it in my planner all of the time.
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you mean about cleansing. We just purged our shed & I was so over all the stuff, that we just put it on the curb. I didn't even want to bother with a garage sale. It felt goooood.
Holly it is because of you I am becoming planner-centered! We have scaled back from the iPhone which was my command central and now the idea of seeing everything on cute + orderly paper is really looking good! I remember reading about your shed purge - good for you! I can't wait until nice weather so we can do the very same thing. AND if we weren't taking a course on getting out of debt ASAP I might be putting junk/valuable treasures at the end of the driveway, too, but I'm also preoccupied with paying off debt SO there's that. Keep it up though and please keep me posted, I love following along as my fellow busy mamas get tidy!
DeleteLove this. My family and I have always strived to live more minimally, and i like how you said that you've "ebbed and flowed" with the concept so many times. i can relate :) over the summer we moved across the country and only took with us what would fit into our suv, but we've already accumulated so much more "junk" - it's crazy! good luck with your organizing and purging - i hope you keep up posted!
ReplyDeleteGillian, thanks for reaching out, we attempting-to-organize ladies have got to stick together! Where did you move from/to? We did that move back in October of 2011 from Reno, NV to Northern Michigan :) I will keep you posted for sure, keep reading ;)
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