Less clothes=less laundry. Less knick knacks=less dusting. Less toys=less pick up. Less=freedom.
Freedom. It’s something I have pondered this past year. MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), an international mom organization, promoted the idea of freedom this year with their Free Indeed theme and challenge to be free from all the things in the world holding us moms back from being who God created us to be. When I think about freedom, I can’t help but think about how my simplicity journey is helping me to be free from things that have held me back in the past, but are losing their grip as I slowly move towards a life with less.
A few weeks ago I was feeling stuck. I looked around my house at the toys and laundry, the dishes, flowers, and unopened mail on my counters. I thought about the basement laundry room turned brew space for my husband that needs a thorough cleaning and purging. I thought about the basement play space and bedroom that is pretty much just storing stuff we don’t know what to do with. And I thought about a certain large closet that needs a complete overhaul. My type A personality was feeling overwhelmed with the stuff cluttering the space right in front of me as well as the hidden clutter lurking in the basement. As my kids played and fought over Legos, I quickly did a five minute pick up, thinking it would help me feel better and erase the overwhelm that filled my mind. And it helped until around nap time when I looked around again and saw a mess frustratingly similar to the mess I picked up a few hours ago. #momlife
Even with all the purging and paring down we have done over the past few years and months, I still felt stuck because there were still spaces and things lingering, cluttering my mind and home. When week 4 of my challenge came up, I decided I was going to tackle these spaces. Dig in and finally go through things I have been putting off for months. Pull down the bins, open the cupboards, haul things out and away. And purge I did. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the most fun thing I’ve ever done. There were dusty books and spiders (we live in the country, people) and lots of things I didn’t know what to do with. Old car seat cover? Keep or donate. Unknown black plastic thingie? Keep or donate. iPhone box? Keep or donate. After it was all said and done we hauled away a hefty amount of unneeded items, I felt a small, yet noticeable, weight lift from the basement and my mind. Freedom.
Freedom from this stuff I felt guilty about keeping and guilty about letting go. Freedom from thinking about the stuff. Freedom from caring for the stuff. Freedom from picking up the stuff. Freedom.
Three things I hope you, my reader, would walk away with after reading this.
One, I have been on this journey for years and still have things I have put off, areas I haven’t tackled or thought about. I whole heartedly believe I will be on this simplicity journey my entire lifetime and it will change and evolve as I do. Please know I am pretty sure I will never ‘arrive’ or have it all figured out. I’m still learning, day by day and closet by closet.
Two, simplicity looks absolutely different for each person and each family. Pay attention to how you think and feel in certain spaces and evaluate if you need something to change. The clutter in my basement and in my living space was cluttering my mind. It was sucking up energy and effort I didn’t want to give it. That may not be the case for you. You may not care if you have a tub of blankets in the basement you haven’t opened for years. Simplicity looks different and I don’t think there is a one size fits all for living with less.
Three, action matters. After I paid attention to why I was feeling the way I was, I decided to take action. I set aside some time to finally get the things done that were bothering me. For so long, those spaces were hanging above my head because I didn’t think I had the time or energy to address them. But when I put it on my calendar to drudge through the drudgery, it made a difference. There it is again, freedom.
Less will look different for each one of us. Each journey is unique and specific to each family, lifestyle, circumstance, values, and beliefs. But I do believe less=freedom. What does less look like for you?