Is it coincidence or fate that on the same morning that my cousin posts on Facebook about clutter & chaos in her home that my email inbox holds an Oprah blog article entitled: 13 New Rules of Decluttering??
I know that seasonally this is the time, so it makes perfect sense for magazine and blog articles to be focused on Spring Cleaning. But, for my cousin to post about wanting a way to bring peace to her place, via clearing & organizing, is rather serendipitous. I am going to share, privately, with her the online article and hope that she can take 5 -10 minutes to read it. More importantly, I hope she can use many of the suggestions to bring her, her girls and her home to simplicity, which leads to happiness.
We have been downsizing and releasing since we put our home up for sale in 2011. We then got rid of lots of things in a couple garage sales, 2012 and 2013, as well as donated many other things to Goodwill (over the years). It was certainly hard to part with some of it and there are a few things I really wish we had held onto, but, you know, it's really okay. They were just things, after all.
We are doing a good job of not buying stuff since our move, especially since we do all the moving on our own and don't know where or how big/little our next place will be. We also still have so much of our décor in boxes. While I often see things in the store that are totally "us," I know that we have enough. I also have plans to print travel photos, frame them and place them throughout our next abode. We have been collecting frames from Goodwill in preparation. I am really looking forward to seeing memories from our vacations everyday!! Our life is more about experiences than collecting items.
Only a few of the 13 decluttering tips in and I was motivated to go through some of my clothes, many of which we have in totes because we don't have any dressers (sold our entire bedroom set pre-Colorado move). With not working a full-time job, a lot of my clothes, shoes & accessories haven't seen the light of day in well-over six months! Who knows when I will wear some of them again...they are missed! Anyway, I definitely had shirts and tanks that I know I simply won't wear. They are some that I have held onto through several purgings! I even sent a text to Chris (who has far far too many shirts, for one!) saying we need to go through our closet this weekend. I have a few slacks I set aside to try on and then make a decision, tho I think I already know into which pile they will be placed.
I think back to my decorating style when we first moved in together and how it changed from our first apartment to our second, being carried through to the house we rented. Then, we made a big move from Indiana to Florida and needed to get rid of things; this was our first major purge. Our place in Florida was sparsely decorated and we were moving in another direction. Once we owned our home back in Indiana, we cultivated another style and enjoyed over a decade "perfecting" it. I look back and appreciate each of those places in our lives.
I am very glad and thankful that I have had the chance to move around and lightening our load has been mandatory several times. Neither of us have parents with whom we could/would have stockpiled our belongings over the years, either.
I won't be owned by my things and I want to own things which hold meaning to me and us. I truly enjoy knowing what we have. I am glad that I don't need to buy every little thing I might like (be it clothes or things for the home). I don't desire a multi-room home that requires filling up. I don't need my own huge closet. Actually, I get an uncomfortable feeling when I have too many clothes that I don't wear. Yes, there have been 2, maybe 3, pieces of clothing I wished I hadn't donated, but I get over it. I usually don't like to add without getting rid of something else. Another thing I really want to practice is only buying and keeping clothes which truly fit, make me feel good about myself and reflect my personal style.
Spring cleaning, purging, organizing, releasing is a continual & personal process that we must go through. I can guarantee that once we land somewhere for more than a year or two, we will have accumulated personal possessions, some of which we will eventually let go to move along on the next leg of our journey.
So, open up those windows to let in the spring breeze, take a good hard look around you and see what you can pass along. While simplifying, you will be opening up yourself to a more abundant life!
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