Dreamscape Jewelry Design

January 8, 2019: Out of Clutter, Find Simplicity

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” –Albert Einstein

In last week’s Weekly Wandering’s blog, I wrote about the tradition of setting goals at the beginning of a new year.  It’s a perfect time to reflect on the previous year and ask yourself,”what went well, what didn’t go well, and what will I do differently in the future.” It’s also a time to envision what your dreams and hopes are and begin planning the steps to get there. Identifying our dreams and taking first steps to make them come true is both motivating and rewarding.  Because one dream is to have more time with my watercolors, I’ve enrolled in a painting class and I’m excited to start my  watercolor class this Tuesday.  

But then there are the other resolutions, which can be daunting in the face of all that there is to do to accomplish them.

Both my husband Ron and I have a hard time getting rid of things.  The creative part of our brain, (Ron calls it the “frugal side”), always finds reasons to justify keeping things for potential future use.  As a result, we are bursting at the seams with “stuff” ranging from boxes of books, sentimental mementos, clothing, and furniture to  toys which once belonged to our now adult children.  In the past, facing overstuffed closets, a full basement, and overloaded garage was a daunting task which made it easy to postpone any attempts to declutter. But when reflecting on the previous year, we realized how much stress we encountered and time wasted when we couldn’t find things.  The frustration we experienced and hours wasted was a major incentive for change. The time searching for misplaced objects (and I have a long history of misplaced objects) can be channeled into something more fun, productive and valuable….just think of what you would rather be doing with the opportunity of more time..

So we have committed to making a major change and have begun the long process of sorting through our belongings, culling them and only keeping that which is necessary, meaningful  or feeds the need for beauty in our hearts. When we choose to let something go, its with the knowledge that in donating it, someone else will now benefit from its possession. 

We’ve been following a blog of Joshua Becker, and are reading his book,The Minimalist Home and his advice has been well heeded.  We started by envisioning what we wanted our home to feel like, look like and say.  It definitely wasn’t chaos and clutter!  Rather than tackling our hardest challenge (the basement), we began the easiest, our living room.  It didn’t take us that long and the reward was immediately apparent. We also realized that single baby steps can make a difference.  One cupboard in the kitchen was tackled at a time. With the living room, kitchen and bedroom now completed, our home already feels calmer. When tape was needed to wrap a birthday present, I knew exactly where to find it.  You can actually  walk into our “walk-in” closet now.  And I haven’t lost my car keys in a full week.  For me that’s a major accomplishment.

To stay on this path for more simplicity, harmony and opportunity, we have committed to accomplish a step each day.  It might be one drawer (a baby step), or one section of the garage (a big leap).  But we’re definitely on our way. 

We’re curious to know, what have you found to be helpful in the process of decluttering and reclaiming back your home? We welcome your ideas and thoughts in the comment box below.