I am sitting at my a some-what local coffee shop, enjoying a Naked Green Machine having my biggest chill ever… relaxing, that is. Since simplifying my life, my mind isn’t wandering to the next thing on my to-do list for the day. I don’t feel rushed to quickly enjoy being here, then frantically move to the day’s activities, which usually includes cleaning and organizing of some sort. The only pressing thing on me right now is to be careful not to enjoy myself so much that I forget to pick up my kids from their Tuesday morning classes.
The reason that I am so chilled is that of my recent voyage to minimize my belongings and simplify my home and life. This means getting rid of anything that doesn’t add value to my life or steals away time, from me and my family. For me, this has meant getting rid of a lot of things in my home. For years now, pressure has been building up all around me, but I could never really identify the problem. I knew that I felt “choked” out of my own home, and no matter how much I cleaned and organized, I just couldn’t shake that feeling. Some days, I would feel panic as I looked around at all the things that I had to find places for, clean, organize and protect, on a daily basis. I have a nice (small) home that contained a lot of nice things, maybe not as much as some people, but my house was definitely full. When anyone would come over, they would always comment on how lovely and nicely decorated my home is, so the things that I had were not junk. Once, I overheard my aunt tell someone, “She has her house decorated very nicely, but she doesn’t have much room for anything else, huh?”
I have always desired to be able to dust, vacuum and pull out or find something that I needed, without having to move something else first. I think that a part of me always thought that was completely unobtainable. No matter how much I would organize or “put things away,” I would always find that I would need something that was behind something else; therefore, making a huge mess just for the sake of one item (if I could even remember where that one item was.) I have recently discovered that this lifestyle is completely obtainable, and I am doing everything that I can to achieve it.
In the past month, I have cleaned out, cleaned out and cleaned out some more! I have decided to remove all the things that are not adding value to my life, and I have removed a lot. I am finally able to breathe without panic, and I am much more relaxed around the house and in life, in general. My husband told me that he can already see a difference in me and how relaxed I seem to be. It has only been a month of minimizing, and I have already gained a lot more time for me and the things that I love. I already see that I spend a lot less time cleaning and organizing things that I will probably never even use, or remember that I have if I were to ever need it. I am able to sit and write this without feeling like something else is being shoved aside. I have always known that I love to write, but I have now discovered that I also love to read! Apparently, I have never felt relaxed enough to be able to sit and read without feeling like “things” were calling for my attention. I am able to completely relax and better focus on things that I really enjoy; therefore, experiencing my biggest chill ever…
