"Maybe the life you've always wanted is buried under everything you own."
"The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don't."
These quotes are from Joshua Becker, an American author, writer, and philanthropist who has written five books on minimalism and intentional living (you can find them here). His words sure hit home for me, they inspired me to start decluttering and shifted my perspective on the things that we choose to keep in our home. Don’t worry, I’m not here to talk you into getting rid of everything you own and staring at blank white walls all day- that’s not the kind of life I want to live either.
Before we get too far along, I do want to tackle the elephant in the room though… the vast amount of stuff we keep in our homes that has been completely normalized. The tendency in our culture these days is to keep too much in our home thinking buying more and more and more is somehow the goal, when, in fact, it is not always serving us well.
"You can have less for the sake of having more of what matters to you, and creating that life that you want that is actually joyful." - Allie Casazza
I’m here to remind you of the permission you already have to change what is not working for you. If you are finding yourself frustrated and overwhelmed by the state of your home or by all the things you are managing, it might be worth giving something different a shot. You might just find that, sometimes, less is more. In this case, I mean that owning less gives you less to do, which means you have more time and more peace of mind.
At least, that’s how it has worked out for me.
Before I had the time, clarity of mind, and capacity to tackle much of what I talk about here at Create a Life of Bliss, I had to take a serious inventory of what we kept in our home. I ruthlessly got rid of TONS of things that were keeping us from living the life we wanted to be living: lotion, nail polish, books, unused journals, clothes, towels, sheet sets (beyond the six still in my linen closet), mugs, kitchen utensils that rarely got used, kids clothes and toys, tables, gift bags, you name it... I probably have gotten rid of it since I began decluttering our home.
I worked hard to create a home that was working for us not against us. Now we have cabinets with less in them, so that when we open one we can easily find what we want instead of digging through things to get to other things we were looking for and fighting back from saying “S**T!” again as another thing fell out of the cabinet and almost hit our toe. (Or head in my case. I'm short, so the things always felt like they were coming for my head!) Now there’s less time wasted looking for things buried behind other things, less time wasted looking for things in general because we know what we have and where to find it (even if my husband might tell you otherwise).
I’m not here to convince you to get rid of everything, but I can tell you that my life got a whole lot easier when I got rid of A WHOLE LOT OF STUFF. I shifted my mindset tremendously, and I would encourage you to also start thinking about how you can start making your home work for you instead of against you. If something isn’t working for you, how can you change it so that it will work better? Having a home that sets you up for success is HUGE and a great place to start if you are interested in making your life easier.
Decluttering is something I am passionate about. I’d love to help you get started. While decluttering won’t be my primary focus, I do think that it is incredibly beneficial and makes life flow WAY more smoothly. if you find yourself stuck and needing help please reach out (DM me on Instagram @CreateALifeOfBliss by clicking here).
If this is something new for you, I’d like to suggest a starting point: read the book Declutter Like A Mother by Allie Casazza. (You can find it here). It will help you shift your mindset and walk you through decluttering your home little by little. In the intro to her book, Allie writes:
“Our stuff is literally stealing from us. It’s stealing the most precious thing in the world: life. Marshall Goldsmith wrote in his book Triggers, ‘If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us.’ We need to take control back. We need to set our homes up to reflect our values, so our homes are not constantly pulling us away from what’s most important.
That’s what moms need more than anything else. The type of minimalism that means less cleaning, less stress, less distraction from the people they most care about—and more energy and free time to focus on their priorities. They want to feel the joy of always being ready for company to drop by without stress, worry, or embarrassment. They want to enjoy their home rather than be owned by it. They want to be the mom who plays rather than the mom who’s always cleaning up. They want to be a happier person.”
If you want less cleaning, less stress, less to-do, then step one is to get serious about getting rid of excess stuff. Allie’s focus is for mothers; however, I still think there is lots of wisdom and practical guidance even if you are not a Mom. I followed her system before I became a Mom. Of course, there are plenty of others out there with decluttering recommendations as well, so just find someone you connect with and get started.
As you get started with decluttering you just might find that passing on items that no longer get use from you and your family can actually be quite rewarding. You can donate items to local charities you support or through places such as Goodwill or Salvation Army. There are also local groups on Facebook by neighborhood called, "Buy Nothing" where you can give items away for free to those in your neighborhood who would like the items. That is one of my favorite ways to give because I know it is going to someone right here in my community that can use it and they stop by and pick it up straight off my porch so I don't even have to leave my house. I don't always hear the stories, but I have had single Mom's share how helpful the items have been to them. I also had someone reach out and share that an item she picked up from me was able to be used to give a Christmas gift to a family member at a time when she would not have been able to afford to go out and purchase something for them at the store. These are just two of the many stories, but they serve as a reminder and help me to stay motivated to generously share the items we no longer need so that someone else who may need these items far more than we do can actually put them to good use.
I’m here to give you ideas and encouragement but the only person who can create the life YOU love is YOU… so go for it! Dream big! Think about the life you truly want to live and get rid of everything that is standing in your way — metaphorically or literally.
Don’t try to change everything today, but start somewhere. Get rid of one thing, and then another. Pretty soon it will start to add up. The things that are distracting you from the life of your dreams will fade, and you’ll begin to see more clearly what you actually want in this life.
We only have one life to live, let's make it AMAZING!
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