It all started over a decade ago when I was a new mother and I just couldn't seem to stay on top of, well, anything. The laundry was piling up and we never had anything to wear. The house seemed to always be a mess, which made me feel depressed being home all day. I always felt sloppy in what I wore. If I took the time to shower, do my hair, makeup, etc, it took so long that I'd have a screaming baby every single time by the end of my involved routine. Dinner time would roll around and I'd have no idea what I was going to make. My life felt like a mess. And I was stressed out of my mind. Does my story resonate with you?
If we want to really press into living a vibrant life, it’s going to take weeding out some of the distractions that keep us busy and preoccupied. In today’s society, our stuff can certainly distract us from being able to fully apply our time, energy, and focus into living the life God created us for. That’s why, even though I’m not recommending everyone sell all their stuff and live in an RV, (though, I think that would be pretty cool) I do think it’s important to have a conversation about our things and how to keep them from being a distraction to us. I’m going to share a little bit more of my own story with minimalism.
A few years after we got married, my husband and I decided we wanted our house to be more organized. We were tired of the mess and clutter. So what did we do? We went out and bought a bunch of storage containers of various sizes with the idea that better organization is what we needed to get ourselves neat and on top of things. We went through our closets and living spaces and divided our stuff into categories and filled containers. And then we filled more containers. We put them all back on the shelves and were temporarily very satisfied with our achievements.
But that didn't last long. We soon found ourselves reorganizing our stuff. And then reorganizing some more. We would try to organize the mountain of stuff a little better each time. Even though our stuff was neat, there was still a lot of it to keep clean, put away, and take care of. It wasn't making our lives any less stressful or more manageable at all. We were still dealing with a lot of STUFF.
One day, when I was fed up after I reorganized the entryway closet for the twentieth time, it finally dawned on me. If we want a clean, neat, decluttered house, the solution would have to be to simply own less. We needed to stop organizing our things and get rid of the clutter once and for all! But for many of us, that can be a daunting and difficult thing to do. Here’s a few reasons I believe we tend to hold on to our stuff.
The first reason we keep clutter in our homes is we ask ourselves the "what if?" question way too much. "What if this fits me again some day?", "What if we have a big crowd over and I need all these extra plates that we never use?", "What if we move and we have extra windows and I could use these curtains again some day?" So we hold on to a whole lot of "what if" items. What happens is that we lower our quality of life NOW with items that only serve possibilities in our unknown future. To think and plan ahead is wise, but to clutter our lives with stuff for a future that might not ever be reality is not. Make a cleaner, neater, healthier environment for the now, and don't worry about all the possible paths your life may take in the future.
A second reason we hold on to our things is that they are special to us in some way. Generally speaking, the reason they have significance in our lives is that they remind us of a memory in our past. Special memories are important to who we are as individuals. However, even though the item may trigger or help us remember the memory, it is NOT the memory itself. Those are stored in our minds. The item itself does not make up who we are. I have a few suggestions of what to do with these items:
Use it or display it. If it's something usable, then take it out of wherever it has been stored and celebrate the memory by using the item that reminds you of it! Or, frame it or shadow box it and display it with pride on your wall!
Take a picture of it and then give it away. Since the item itself really only serves as a reminder of past experience, take a picture of it so you have that reminder but it no longer crams your space. And then give the item away.
Store it in Keepsakes. There are those items that are just too special to give away. We decided that each family member can have a keepsake tub for only the very most special items.
A third reason we may hold onto things and keep ourselves from experiencing the freedom of less is that we wish to impress others with the stuff we own. Somehow, with all the commercials and advertising in our lives, our culture has become one that tries to impress others with what we own instead of with who we are. Let's get back to what really matters and stop trying to impress people with our stuff. If you hang on to things only to make an impression on others, now is a good time to get rid of it.
Consumerism promises much, but fails to deliver. We buy and experience a temporary "high" but our excess stuff tends to cause worry and stress. My advice is to keep the things you need, and get rid of the rest! The more stuff we have, the more there is to clean, take care of, and worry about. We end up with more stress and less time. Evidence has shown that a cluttered home can cause depression. A more minimalistic approach to stuff can actually bring us a lot more peace! We weed out the things that don't really matter and keep the things that do. When we don't have to spend all our time keeping up with a house full of stuff, we have more time to play with our kids, learn, or do the things that truly inspire us and make us feel alive.
Have you started on the journey toward owning less stuff? If not, what do you feel like is the number one thing that has kept you from starting? Leave me a comment, I’d love to know!
If you want a head start in your journey to becoming the person God created you to be, I’ve made some printable journal pages that are yours for free! You can click here to download those and use them each morning to really start your day off right!
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