Less is more!
What less? What more?
This is true on every level
Less negativity, more joy
Less discussion, more harmony
Less non important activities, more time spent on things that do matter
Less freaking out, more calmness
Less objects hence less cleaning, more time to relax
Less possessions hence less worries, more peace of mind
….
You can continue this list almost endlessly
The thing is: “the more stuff we own, the more stuff owns us”
We are slaves of our possessions
Instead of spending time doing things we really like or that are really important, we are working to have more, bigger, shinier…whatever!
It’s hilarious what we keep in our closets!!
How many T shirts, trousers, skirts, shoes do we need….???
Half of it we don’t even know we (still) had
Only very little we actually use, wear, …
There are groups now, like The Minimalists with Ryan Nicodemus that help you lead a more minimalistic life.
It is mindblowing what a feeling of freedom, relief, space, clearness, … you get after cleaning out all the clutter in your life!
It’s like opening a window and letting in the fresh clean wind and breathe, enjoy the pureness!
And for once you can take this literally
I am inviting you to do this exercise and you will be a lot happier, lighter, calmer… afterwards!
Here’s the thing:
You invite a friend (or more) and you start at the beginning of a month.
Each day you select the number of items as is the number of the day
Let’s say you start this December:
1/12: 1 item
2/12: 2 itmes
…
23/12: 23 items
…
31/12: 31 items
You select items that you either: donate to charity, throw away, or give to a person who will actually use or wear the item.
Before midnight the item must leave the house, jep, otherwise you are just moving the clutter……
Each day you sent a photograph to your friend(s) of the things you have selected for that day
It’s hilarious at times, shocking at others but certainly very freeing and very rewarding!
Are you up for the challenge???
Believe me it’s worth it!!!
And your friend(s) will be grateful!
It is also a very nice reason to have that very brief moment with your friend: it doen’t take a lot of time and you feel connected as you’re both going through that – otherwise so hated- job of clearing out closets, cupboards, garages, basements,…
And believe me once you’ve started it becomes infectious: every time you see clutter, you are going to declutter, select, and create space literally and mentally!
So have a very nice winter cleaning and you’ll be a much lighter, happier and freer person to start the new year!!!!!! Let’s have the good intentions over and done with before January 1st!!
You’ll be so proud of yourself!!!!!!
I am doing the declutter exercise with a friend right now and we are enjoying ourselves like crazy, crack up every time we see the picture of all the stuff we actually still held on to, we feel freer evey day, and happy and proud of ourselves!!
You become so aware of how much we consume, that once you’ve cleared out your house you are more apprehensive of what you’ll buy next time. You’ll consider whether you really need it, is it going to make you happy ( long term not the ‘shot’ of buying), when are you going to use/wear/…it?
Good luck!
Katrien