The Essentials

After I completed the pantry I launched into my lazy susan and then other kitchen cabinets.  I finished my whirl wind purge in the basement.  I ended up taking four large boxes to Goodwill.  There will be more to come as I’m inspired to get rid of as much stuff as possible.  I’m tired of managing stuff—cleaning the stuff, moving the stuff, storing the stuff.  It’s completely ridiculous the amount of stuff we collect in a lifetime.  Stuff we don’t even know why we keep it.  For example, anyone have their wedding album from your first marriage?  I do.  I keep thinking the kids may be interested in it someday.  It’s ridiculous and good for a laugh—very Princess Diana back in 1990. (Insert eye roll here.)  Pretty sure it would make good kindling.

I’m paring down to just the essentials at home and doing that room by room, cabinet by cabinet, closet by closet.  I’m only keeping what is most important.  I’m letting go of the obligation to keep things that were gifted to me by family—sets of china, a spinet piano that hasn’t been played since the cat died (he used to walk on the keys), etc.  It’s liberating.

Narrowing to the essentials gives us time back in our lives because we are no longer managing so much stuff.  I’m not suggesting everyone become a minimalist.  I am suggesting we extend mindfulness to our surroundings and be intentional about what we place in our space in order to maximize joy and foster calm.