The Simple Life

I renovated my apartment over the holidays with a fresh coat of painting and new flooring. So to prepare for the gang that was descending on me post- Christmas, I had to go through all my cabinets, closets, wall units, etc. and box everything up in storage.

Going through your closets is an eye opening experience.  I found things I never knew I had:  old CD players, cassettes, 10 million candles, rugs, books, etc.  On the other hand, I also discovered things I could really use:  sweaters tucked away (translation: a new wardrobe!), blankets,  beach towels, and so on.  To be frank I wound up tossing A LOT OF STUFF.  By the time, I was ready to move my items back where they belonged, it was a new sense of freedom.  Lots of room, nothing was crammed and jammed as previously and I had room to walk in my “walk in” closets.  Plus, I really had everything I needed – just a little scaled down.   I started the new year off feeling lighter both physically and mentally.  I think the mental part was really important.  We live with such clutter in our daily lives and this dysfunction becomes normal to us.  That’s not good.  There is something to be said for a more simplistic life or “less is more”. 

This “simple” lifestyle becomes extremely difficult for us because we live in a consumer culture that encourages endless buying, splurging, and collecting. Separating our needs from our wants becomes increasingly difficult in a society constantly encouraging us to increase, super-size, and upgrade everything.  So we accumulate things, stuff them into corners of our closets because we think we need to attain them in order to achieve happiness.  

I would encourage you to tackle your rooms, one by one.  Who knows what you could find.  If you haven’t used/worn/looked for that item in 10 years, chances are you never will do that. Toss it and donate/gift/pay it forward to someone who might really want it.  If you’re like me you probably have 15 scarves but you only gravitate towards 3 of them.  You would never miss the other 12 LOL.  I have a new rule going forward – if I buy something new, I must toss something from the closet.  That keeps the clutter at bay.

Fearful that you might get rid of something and then regret it?  When you think of it what do you really need?  YOUR CELL PHONE!! I can’t live without my phone and neither can you:  we call, text, type, play music, check our social media pages, take pictures and on and on.  So me, my phone and I can live together just nicely in 2018. 

Now that I am living in an uncluttered house with my cell phone, I am making myself accountable for keeping it that way.  Once you declutter you may never go back:) Give it a try!!  I highly recommend it.