Monday, May 16, 2011

Halfway Point- Chugging Along

So I am at the halfway point on my 31 day crusade towards minimalism.


I am not going to lie. Getting rid of things has been very difficult. However, it isn't difficult because I don't want to part with things as much as it is just difficult and exhausting going through everything and making decisions. I kinda wish someone would just come and take everything. TAKE IT ALL AWAY! I really wouldn't miss anything one bit. I am considering having am "I'm Going Minimalist Sale" and everyone is invited.

The PROCESS has been trying but I see such tremendous progress. I don't want to lose steam. I know it will take more than 31 days to get to my goal. What I am trying to accomplish in 31 days is to make a BIG DENT. It is so easy to make a small dent and then think, "this looks & feels so much better" and then take a permanent nap on the couch. I've been there before and I am resolved that things will be different this time.

I have become acutely aware of how stuff finds its way into our home. Freebies, swag bag goodies, papers, tiny toys all creep into our house. I am an army of one putting the smack down on the clutter as it tries to break down my door.

I am honestly a little disgusted with myself when I look at all the superfluousness around my house. What a waste of money and time to acquire and care for these things. I keep looking at my six pairs of shoes and thinking, "Do I really need six pairs of shoes for one pair of feet?" I can maybe justify having a pair of boots, flip flops, dress shoes and sneakers. But 3 pairs of flip flops? 3 pairs of sneakers? It all just seems like excess to me at this point. Some of those shoes are going to be on the chopping block.

I am enthralled with the concept of living with only what is necessary. What a freeing concept. If we had to move it would only take a weekend to pack up our possessions and not months. We are still far from living minimally but getting there slowly. There is very little that I won't part with in the end. Everything I cherish is in my head and in my heart.


1 comments:

Marcy said...

I think you have hit the nail on the head as to why so many of us hold on to crap-- even if you don't have the attachment to it, the process of sorting it, deciding what to do with it (sell? donate? etc) and then DOING it, is exhausting just to think about. I recently went through and made a huge stack of books that we could give away. Then it sat in my room for a week... then Donovan played with it and made "skyscrapers' mixing in books we wanna keep... and now it's been a good month or so and I've yet to go through the pile again to re-designate give-away-able books, and then go take them somewhere.

Our other big challenge-- hate the idea of getting rid of something and then needing to buy a replacement in the future anyway. *sigh*