I’ve been sitting here for several hours trying to think of what life lesson I’ve learned recently. There was not much! About a month ago, I retold my story about breaking my toe while running after my dog. I lost my very first companion in June. I’m now struggling to keep my ever-growing anxiety at bay.
I recently watched a documentary on YouTube called MINIMALISM: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS. If you haven’t seen the film and are interested in how you impact your life and the world with what you buy, I would recommend a watch. I resonated with many of the people telling their stories. Joshua had such a powerful story to tell about his childhood and growing up missing important moments with his family.
I won’t lie–I do tend to cry often in movies but when he spoke about his mom, I hundred percent felt it. My parents are both retired and living–I think–their best lives. They call often and don’t get the chance to talk with them or be with them as much as I would love.
I’m not jumping to conclusions like quitting my job and living on a farm (yet?), but as they mention in the film, making this change requires time and small steps. I’ve become a collector in my years of living… While I don’t consume often, I do tend to keep things and try to reuse them as often as I can. This also means that I have about 4-5 old cell phones with their respective charging cable in my tech drawer in my office. I’m pretty dedicated!
While I look around my office, I can already see that I live and work in clutter. Could this be the reason why I can’t focus on my creative projects? Is this why I feel overwhelmed when I should be feeling relaxed in my own home?
Action is the antidote for anxiety.
-A lot of people from the internet
If you didn’t already know, I’m an awful ruminator. That means I’m pretty good at thinking about things until they get me physically sick (ergo this week actually). I’ve gone through my closet and I have an entire bag full of clothes to donate (that haven’t left the house yet). These items clutter my mind. Even if there isn’t a to-do list with that item, I see it therefore I think of it. Even though we are halfway through this year, I’m going to try and declutter. That’s it. Just declutter items, clothes, thoughts!
When I’ve gone on work trips or stayed at a hotel for a vacation, I always wonder how easy it was for me to make a decision. Sure I could watch the same episode of Big Bang Theory OR I could go to the hotel gym and work out. Our living courters are much smaller than our home–of course we won’t be distracted from going to the gym. We could probably watch the same episode there AND get a good workout! I think it also helps not to have the burden of chores–don’t have to clean dishes or wash the bathroom. All you have to do is take care of yourself.
How do you manage your consumption? Do you live a ‘minimal’ life? What are ways you declutter your home?
KatD0m 
Decluttering is always a struggle for me. I have a hard time throwing things away, like many people. However, I have noticed that many people subscribe to the ‘Spring Cleaning’ mindset, and I never really have. Maybe Spring is a good time to go through some old stuff and get rid of it? My cleaning usually involves moving it from a ‘public’ space in the house to a ‘private’ space, like a drawer or a closet or something. Sure, it makes the home look cleaner, but I’m just moving my clutter instead of dealing with it. But I think many people have this problem (at least I hope so!). I sometimes look at other people’s houses and see very minimal things around and it makes me think ‘what am I doing wrong?’. This is probably not the right mindset to have, but it always makes me think, would the house be cleaner if we didn’t have so much STUFF everywhere? At the same time, how do you throw out this stuff? I am not one to have someone come in and throw out all of my things, that is the hoarder within talking though. To quote Tyler Durden; “The things you own end up owning you” and this is coming from the epitome of minimalism, be it a fictitious character. Anyway, I have entered ramble mode, but these are my thoughts/responses. Great post!
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Thank you for sharing! I have to admit, I too have the mentality of holding onto something for those just-in-case moments. What keeps me going is that I’ve USED these things that I’ve stopped myself from throwing out! I’ve also never gotten into the spirit of spring clean during spring (or at all??) probably because spring has been feeling like an extension of winter in Chicago 🙂
Anyway, you are for sure not alone in this. In our society, it’s very easy to be a collector of many things. As long as we don’t judge ourself too harshly, I think we can get through it. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and best of luck on your decluttering journey 🙂
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