Minimalism. Decluttering. Organizing. Tidying Up. Simple Living. Swedish Death Cleaning. I’m sure there are more descriptions for it. But one thing they all come down to is living YOUR simplest life so that YOU can be happy. Except maybe Swedish Death Cleaning, that one is more for the benefit of your family.
I’ll be honest, I have struggled with this my whole life. It’s the environment I grew up in. My mom always had tons of things, knick knacks, decorations, paperwork.. oh my word, the paperwork. There were piles here, there, every where. And I was the lucky one to be assigned the chore of dusting. And then that became my lifestyle, but not to the same extent. My papers were contained to one pile or drawer. At first.
My kids jokingly call me a hoarder. They have no idea what true hoarding is and how badly it can affect your life. My BFF watches a show about Hoarders, she jokingly says it makes her feel better about her messes (she hides them well). I do have a hard time letting go of some things. I want to let go, I REALLY do. And I’m still working on it. I guess I have a hoarding tendency, as a large number of people do, but I recognize it and I recognize my want to let go, and I am continually working on it.
My BFF and I actually at one point scheduled projects to keep us accountable – and that turned out well.
But we didn’t keep it up. And that’s key. Once you’ve done the work to get things the way you want them, you need to put in a little time consistently to keep them that way.
I might have been able to keep that up. But I have moved a few times since then. I moved from that 2br trailer to a 2br apartment with less storage. And from there I was homeless for almost 2 years (that’s a whole other story).
Now I share a 3br house with my son, Dakota, and we are roommates with my daughter, Tori, and her boyfriend, Edwin, and my grandson, Sebastian. It’s not MY house so I can’t have my stuff all over. It’s been just over a year and things have changed from Dakota and I sharing a room to us each having a room, that makes it a little less crowded.
I am still working on going through all the STUFF I had in storage (it’s been cluttering up the garage since December) and finding balance in my room. I’m sure you know, it’s a process.
That’s what I’m going to focus on for the next few weeks. Tidying up, decluttering, organizing and finding the balance that will bring joy and peace in everyday life. Your journey will be different than mine, but the concept is the same.
So, who’s in this journey with me? Are you ready to tidy up, let go, and find YOUR balance? Your zen?
Comment below and tell me what area you’re working on first.
For me, it will be clothes. I do not have much as I tend to wear a small selection of clothing — I just try to wear them differently so it’s not the exact same thing every day. Although a uniform sure takes the thought out of it all, lol. Regardless, I have clothing I do not wear. Things “I may fit into one day”, that “I like, I want to wear it, but I don’t like the way it looks on me”, that “I need to find the right pants/skirt/etc to wear with.” Enough excuses.
By this time next week I will have sorted out the things I have not worn in the last 6 months (I live in Oregon and the weather changes drastically enough in summer I have to go back more than 3 months) and I will put them in either the donate or sell totes.
If you’ve got a car, put the donate box by your door and drop those things at a local homeless shelter, women’s shelter or thrift store next time you’re out.
If you WILL take the time to sell your unneeded things of value, either sort them for a garage sale or take pics and post them on sell sites (whether it be eBay, CraigsList, Facebook Marketplace, or one of the apps like OfferUp, LetGo, or Mercari). Just do it.
I look forward to reading about and seeing your accomplishments!
