The struggle is real...

to pare down our possessions.

Let's do something different today since it's Friday.

I'm on a quest to declutter my home.  I'm not a crazy hoarder, but it does seem like I have way more stuff than I need. I crave order, which is hard to have when you're forever cleaning and organizing (aka moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.)

None of this will happen until you're mentally ready for the changes. Case in point: About two years ago, I tried paring down the décor in my kitchen. The tops of my cabinets were very artfully arranged with all sorts of cool stuff, much of it beautiful things I've had for decades.  I missed it all and put it back.

About two weeks ago, I decided to box it up again, stick it in the barn, while I tried out the new minimalist look. The decision was immediate, as both hubby and I said, "Love the way it looks." And now I don't have to haul it all down several times a year to wash and return to it's place.  Running up and down a ladder, taking sometimes an entire day to clean, was not a good use of my time. Score!

This past week, I was struggling with a lovely blue and white vase that used to hold many of my kitchen utensils, which are now arranged neatly in a drawer (minus a whole bunch of spatulas. I have a thing for spatulas.)

I tried the vase on my living room shelves and finally put it in the hall closet while trying to decide if it needed to be in the Goodwill box.  I finally hit on the optimal question to ask myself, to wit: If you came upon this lovely vase at the thrift store, would you buy it? The answer was no, and it promptly went into the Goodwill box.

One of my favorite cheer leaders for minimalism is Ronald Banks. This young man has a bright future.  His post on "10 Reasons Owning Less Feels Out Of Reach" is excellent. I really like his posting the timestamps below his videos.

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:28 Reason #1: Holding on to “potential” 1:13 Reason #2: Scarcity mindset 1:57 Reason #3: Poor habits 2:38 Reason #4: A tie to identity 3:38 Reason #5: Comparison 4:50 Reason #6: Decision fatigue 6:04 Reason #7: Lack of self belief 7:00 Reason #8: Unresolved emotions or physical hang ups 7:43 Reason #9: “But we have the space for it” 8:20 Reason #10: “But it’s still in good condition”

Number 4 is a biggie for me.

If this is a subject that is of interest to you, please head over to Youtube and peruse his other videos.  And liking his videos and subscribing to his channel will help him out, too.

How about a Friday kitteh?

And - remember...

Inspiration Saturday...

but first, take a moment to say a prayer for the family of Alfie Evans who passed away.

Alfie James Evans was a baptized Catholic, like his father. His mother belongs to the Reformed tradition. If a baptized child before the age of reason dies, he goes straight to heaven, according to Catholic teaching. 

“Baptized and under ‘the age of reason’, he does not need our prayers,” tweeted Dr Joseph Shaw, a Catholic ethicist at Oxford University. “His family, and everyone else involved, do.” source

Moving on:

It's a cool rainy day here after a week of above average temps.  We even hit 81° yesterday.  Since my tree pruning and bush whacking is curtailed I will spend part of today cleaning my office which has turned into a jungle of crapola.

If you need a bit of inspiration for your own decluttering journey, Anthony Ongaro from Break the Twitch packs a whole lot of the aforementioned inspiration into the following short video.

Cute Rocky as a puppy and
Anthony's equally cute wife, Amy

His YouTube channel has a bucket full of short useful videos to get you in the mood.  Word of warning:  Do not, I repeat - do not spend the next hour or two watching his videos (even if you fall in love with his too cute doggie, Rocky.)  Scroll through and find one that addresses something that may be challenging you and watch it and maybe one more.  After that, go do what you need to do.  Capisce?






And if you find yourself spending waaaaaaaay more time on social media lately (guilty!), Anthony can help with that too.






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How much stuff do you own?...

and do you really need it all?

Let's move away from riots, illegal immigrants, free speech, the Obama administration lying (no big surprise there), and talk about the stuff that weighs us down.

You know the stuff I'm talking about.  The stuff we have to clean and organize, stuff which usually involves buying a bunch of storage boxes, bins, and baskets, and just makes our lives way more complicated than necessary.

I was always fascinated when reading historical fiction when some lady would pull out her one brooch to wear to a ball.  One brooch?  Look in most ladies jewel boxes today and you'll find 50 or 60 pieces of junk jewelry, most of which is never worn after one season.  And don't even get me started on shoes.

When I started my decluttering, which I now like to call "editing", it was because I was sick and tired of caring for all that stuff.  My soul craved open and clear spaces, and less to clean and rearrange.

I've been at it for about three years, and still marvel at all we still have, while at the same time admiring the spaces opening up in the barn and the house.  Do I really need 5 kitchen whisks?  Nope.  A few hit the trash can yesterday. 

This morning, over at Becoming Minimalist, I read 21 Surprising Statistics That Reveal How Much Stuff We Actually Own, and it spurred some deeper thinking about our possessions.

The very first statistic is there are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).  Well, sure; I guess that could be true if you count every safety pin, pencil, paper clip as separate items.  However, it does make you stop and ask, "How many paper clips does a household really need?"  I have enough push pins to build a house, and I never met a notebook or pen I didn't crave with a lust that should be reserved for more important things.  And don't even ask me about garden tools or craft supplies. 

Here's a few more that caught my attention:

8. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine (Forbes).

9. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually (Forbes).

Whoa.  $1700.00 dollars for clothes?  My annual budget for the two of us is about $150.00, including underwear and shoes, most of which is purchased online. 

Number 21 on the list:  The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year (Uppercase).

Been there, done that.  Do you realize that there are whole stores filled with containers and "organizing" systems?

Every new plastic box that made its way into my house to "organize" just made it worse.  Now I gloat every time an empty plastic storage box hits the storage box pile in the barn.

Our homes have become the equivalent of storage facilities.

5. The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks. Currently, there is 7.3 square feet of self-storage space for every man, woman and child in the nation. Thus, it is physically possible that every American could stand—all at the same time—under the total canopy of self-storage roofing (SSA).

I know people who have off-site storage they've had for 10 or more years. 

Is this really necessary?

If you read any decorating blog, you'll find the new hot thing is to have a coffee station set up somewhere in your home.  Really?  Now we're turning our homes into fast food restaurants and using prime space for overpriced coffee pods.
 
I'm not advocating against having some pretty things or that living out of a back pack is superior.  Everyone has to live how they choose. 

Is your stuff keeping you from fulfilling dreams?  Think about it.

From: 21 Surprising Statistics That Reveal How Much Stuff We Actually Own

The numbers paint a jarring picture of excessive consumption and unnecessary accumulation. Fortunately, the solution is not difficult. The invitation to own less is an invitation to freedom, intentionality, and passion. And it can be discovered at your nearest drop-off center.

My gardening work is on hold due to rain today and tomorrow.  It's time to fill more boxes for the thrift store, starting with the 5 or 6 hair appliances I never use anymore.  I may even get rid of some paper clips, too.  Buh, bye. 

More:

Another view of minimalism that has merit.  In particular his closing paragraph puts it all in perspective:

The Art of Manliness:  The Problem With Minimalism

What do we truly control?...

my recent thinking on this is - not much.

Everyday we are assaulted through news sources, both mainstream and alternative,  about all the goings on in the world. I would contend that close to 100% of what is going on is stuff we have absolutely no control over.

And yet many of us (you may call me guilty) spend untold hours perusing all these sources as though our lives depended on knowing everything, down to and including what our favorite entertainers had for breakfast. 

If the news is leaving you feeling out of control, it may be time to cut back on what you suck into your head.  

As part of my ongoing plans to declutter and simplify, I'm going to declutter and simplify my writing.  That means fewer words and fewer posts.

You see - the only things we can really control is ourselves, and our immediate surroundings. 

I suggest as an antidote to make this the year you take control of the things you can truly control.  A life that is humming along in an orderly fashion is a lot less likely to be overwhelmed by an increasingly out-of-control world.

Think of ways you can simplify your life. 

I'd say more, but I'm already over my word limit.  More tomorrow.

More:

From Desire to Reality: Why Setting Goals is Critical for Success 

Beware the gods of the internet...

you could be a target.

This little post of mine asked the question:

How "connected" do we really have to be?

That evening we lost our internet servive and remained unconnected for over TEN hours.

Coincidence?

I think not.