Since 2019, I have made a conscious effort to declutter my home and decrease the amount of my possessions. The more I do this, the more important it becomes. In fact, some days it is rather all-consuming…..and I mean that it a good way.
I have become motivated to move toward a home of less items in order to make room for more of the simple pleasures in life, more time to devote to the people and experiences (not things) that matter most.
The motivation to own less started taking root in my life when my husband, Bill, and I rented an apartment in Houston for 6 weeks. You may watch my video here, where I explain how my simplicity journey began.
We needed a place to stay while he was undergoing cancer treatments at MD Anderson. We stayed in an upstairs apartment with 5 small rooms: kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom and living room. The kitchen was very tiny and there were no upper cabinets. The dishes were kept on a shelf over the sink. There were 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 glasses….. well, you get the idea. It was surprisingly freeing to have so few items to keep clean and put away.
We took our laptops for work, a small number of clothing items, 2-3 pairs of shoes (each) and a few personal care items and accessories. We lived very comfortably for 6 weeks with just a minimal amount of “things”.
When Bill was feeling well, we took the train and went exploring the city. We also walked around the neighborhood. Of course we went to MD Anderson every day, but we also spent quality time together – just being together. We kept the apartment neat and tidy. It was so easy because it only contained the things we NEEDED.
When we returned home after 6 weeks, I looked at our home (and all the things inside of it) with an entirely new perspective.
My husband and I have been married since 2012. At that time, we each had houses of our own and tons of belongings. You can image how much stuff we had between the two of us. He is an avid outdoors-man so he has lots of camping equipment, hunting clothes, kayaks and paddles, fishing equipment, bicycles, etc. Plus there was a time that he operated a construction business, so he owns almost every tool imaginable (not to mention several trailers to haul all of these things around.)
I’m the creative type so I have tons of craft supplies, yarns, paintings, pottery made by friends and family…..and I do enjoy clothes and shoes, too. I actually LIKE to organize things, so I always enjoyed arranging and reorganizing all of my belongings. But…. at the age of 58 I finally came to the realization that it does not make sense to simply “find a place” for everything when so many of those things are not essential, useful or valuable in some way.
My first exercise in serious decluttering, was when I completely emptied my bedroom closet and went through ALL my clothes and shoes. I was embarrassed see how big the piles of clothes were on my bed …. and number of shoes on the floor! It was shocking.
I filled several bags to give to family and to Good Will. But pairing down my shoes……well…..that was not as easy. I have to admit – I still have some work to do in that department!
But here is something interesting that I have learned during this process over the years: It is ok to hold on to more than you need in the very beginning. Once I started pairing down the items in my closet, I can go back a month later and do it again. Then – it is not nearly as difficult. I started to build up my “decluttering muscles.”
I have followed several minimalists on blogs and You Tube for a couple years now, and they have inspired me to move toward a more minimalist lifestyle. If you are interested in owning less, I invite you to visit my channel, The Road to Simple. I also follow Becoming Minimalist Blog & YouTube, Be More With Less and The Minimal Mom for inspiration and information.
I started blogging about my journey in hopes of learning more about living more simply. I share my thoughts and realizations here along my journey. I welcome your comments and ideas any time!
Remember – Simple Pleasures Are The Best!
xo Angie
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