Jul 18, 2013

My Quest For Less

A while ago (2009) I wrote this post about my need for less at Christmas and now here I am 4 years later to begin sharing my journey to less-and this time I am getting serious.  I don't know if you would call it becoming a minimalist, or downsizing, dejunking, clearing clutter, super organizing or what exactly, but all I know is that I am on a mission to reduce.  Like I wrote in the first post 4 years ago I have always felt this underlying desire to have less but to try and embrace a lifestyle of less is totally out of character for me.  I mean I am a toilet paper tube hoarding, repurposing junkie.  I can hardly throw an empty box away without visions of "what it could become" flashing through my mind.  I am the daughter of a super frugal mother who saved every little thing and repurposed way before it was even cool.  This is the woman who has a box in her basement labeled, "shirts to cut up as rags."  I mean who needs to save shirts to cut as rags; there will always be shirts to cut up as rags.  But that is just the kind of woman she is.  I am the daughter, the niece and the granddaughter of a generation of wonderful people who were born and raised during the depression who never threw anything away and who never really had anything anyway.  And now here I am feeling like chucking blankets, sheets, pillows, spatulas, plates, tupperware etc and I am not sure where that is coming from and I am not sure how it will resonate with my family and those I love but the feeling is there.  I don't know what has suddenly brought on this desire with hurricane force, but I KNOW it is what I (my family too) need to do.  I don't know how it will be manifested in my life, because I have a lot of very sentimental things and I have a lot of very sentimental things that I hope to inherit and I have a major crafting passion which comes with a lot of stuff and I love thrift stores and yard sales and the idea of transforming junk into treasures.  So I don't know how it will all play out.  But I am going to do it.  I have a friend who's family is on a journey to becoming minimalists and I would read a few things she would post on Facebook and see stuff she was selling and felt so envious of her ability to get rid of unnecessary stuff.  Yes, that is right, envious of someone who has less than me.  I want that for us.  I want to figure out how to effectively hold onto the treasures, to weed out the unnecessary, to get rid of the clutter and to avoid buying unneeded things.  Everything was solidified in my mind last night when I watched my two girls splash in the newly formed puddle out front with a bucket of old measuring spoons.  They didn't need a bunch of stuff to be happy, they are so happy with little things.  This morning they have played for 2 hours straight with 4 spools of old thread I had bought at a yardsale and didn't have a use for.  They have unwound every last bit and have it spread everywhere and they are so happy.  And guess what, tonight after they go to sleep I will toss it in the garbage and feel free.  That tells me that it is time and it is okay to get rid of some stuff (toys being on the top of the list).  They are imaginative and creative and it is going to be okay.  I was exhausted last night after an afternoon of gathering and downsizing and I slept like a rock dreaming only of getting rid of more.  I was worried I might fizzle out today but the desire still burns strong and I downsized my wooden spoon collection by over half while the bacon cooked for breakfast.  I love how this feels.  This is going to be one wonderful and probably painful and frustrating journey.
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10 comments:

  1. I feel like this ALL THE TIME. I do declutter, but I never feel like I get rid of enough. It's hard because I feel guilty getting rid of things and wonder if we will need to re-buy them one day, and if I'll wish I'd kept them. I'll be very interested to read how the process goes for you, especially how you decide to weed out the toys and kiddie stuff.

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    1. I already feel guilty and it is just beginning. I decided to blog about the process so that I would have a place to "talk" out the emotions that come with this kind of stuff. We'll see how it goes.

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  2. I make my daughter help me clean out the toys...started when she was 3! The first time was hard for her and came with a few tears, but now she's happy to do it. We make three piles - one to keep, one to donate, and one to trash. I make her think hard about whether or not she's played with a toy before she decides on which pile to put it in. Sometimes I help guide her, but for the most part she knows what she plays with and what she doesn't.

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  3. If you are getting rid of things and donating them to people in need, then you can feel good about clearing the clutter!

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  4. I think this is a really good idea. I don't like clutter (that I can see...I do have a couple messy junk drawers) and I really believe that its ok to live with less "stuff". What has helped me is living in this tiny house and having stuff stored at the farm. If you have things that are a really strong maybe then you should store it someplace where you can't get to it easily and see how that goes. After living in this house for a year Daniel and I went through our stuff at the farm and got rid of lots!

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    1. Jenny that is kind of how I use out basement-I instantly move the stuff I want to get rid of some time down there and then don't get it out for a long time and by the time I do, I realize that I no longer need it.

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  5. I did this when we downsized from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment. I came to realize how much STUFF we have and how much we don't need. A family of 3 should fit in a 2 bedroom apartment in my mind and it should not be their crap that is filling up the space. I used to feel more guilty throwing things out when I would look on pinterest and see all the people repurposing the same items I was throwing out. Then I realized how much I saved with "good intentions" of repurposing, only to have it bagged in my closet for a year. Living in a smaller space makes me much more conscious of the uses of what I buy and if I actually NEED the item. Not to mention how many items we have multiples of. I mean how many spatulas does one person need? or sheet sets? we have 2 beds why do we need 6 sets of sheets? There are plenty of things I'd like to have but when I start thinking about it I realize I don't need it. Don't feel guilty getting rid of things, just make a conscious effort not to fill the space you clear out with more stuff, lol

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    1. I looked at my wooden spoons and thought, "I don't need 8 and weeded out 5" I looked in the drawers and said, "why do I have 15 plastic forks-and 10 were gone instantly." When you have a perspective shift it really helps doesn't it.

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  6. I'm inspired by our friend as well. We've only done the kids toys, and man, it feels so good! My husband and I decided we need to go through every room in the house and downsize! I'm looking forward to it! :) I have a lot of the same feelings as you (guilt, am I going to wish I kept it, etc.), but, hopefully we can encourage each other and cheer each other on! Here's to less "stuff"!

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