For the past couple of years, I have been on a decluttering mission.
Prior to moving from Victoria, we had already begun working on living a more clutter free life. When we moved to Collingwood, we had multiple garage sales and managed to fit everything we owned into a 24 foot U-Haul, but a decade has passed since then and I thought we could do more…
I wanted (and still want) to see how much less we could live with in our house so, for the past two years, I have discarded, donated or recycled one thing a day.
That totals 730 things which we had in our house that we no longer own or have to dust or wash or maintain, and that’s just in the past two years. Some of these were small things, like a handful of mismatched screws or a pile of little plastic connectors which I couldn’t figure out why I had still had, so I recycled them. It takes diligence to go through everything you have in a house and decide whether to toss it or keep it.
We went through our clothes and donated large boxes of clothing to Diabetes or The Salvation Army and Hope Chapel here in Collingwood. It was all good clothing and we could have sold it but we both decided to donate it to our community organizations who help locals in need.
We donated dozens of books to our local library, over 150 books in total. The library can choose to then sell the books or put them in their library. That’s a win win.
I’ve gone through boxes we had under the stairs and slowly recycled almost all of them. I suspect that by the new year, we will have a total of less than 6 boxes left under the stairs, for things we think we may need to pack up if we ever move. Two of those boxes will be Christmas related.
There’s an underlying reason for this.
Simplifying my lifestyle allows me the ability to focus my energies on the present.
This has been a few years in the making but I have come to realize that in my life, living a simpler life requires less maintenance, offers fewer distractions and requires less thinking and I have learned that is very important to me.
I need to simplify my material possessions so they don’t consume my mental resources. It is as simple as that… at least for me. ‘Things’ occupy too much space inside my head.
By decluttering, I allow myself room again inside my life for new shifts – new changes I may want to make. New habits I may want to incorporate.
“Your outcomes are a measure of your habits. Your net worth is a measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat.”
This started many years ago when I bought my Sailboat and left to go on a one year journey. I lived with what I had on the boat and that experience helped me recognize just how much stuff we carry around for years and years and years. When we lived in Belize, our house had the very basic necessities and we were just fine so in many ways, I’ve been on this path for some time.
Practicing this simple form of Minimalism has taught me that my happiness doesn’t come from owning material possessions. Yes, we still own ‘things’. Quite a few things, but I have chosen to embrace a lifestyle that prioritizes experiences and relationships over possessions, or at least, that’s the direction I want my life to move in. I find that by discarding things, I have more time for myself.
That is not to say we no longer make purchases either, it’s just that when we do, we consider what we could dispose of that we currently own for each purchase we make. And we don’t always get rid of something right away or at all, just that we think about what we own and what we are about to purchase when we do. I have come to the conclusion that the only reason for me to buy an object now is because I believe it will (directly or indirectly) improve the quality of my life.
That said, I love what we own and will continue to love what we own because it provides me joy… although, it is the art that hangs on the wall that is most important to me. The furniture we own is disposable to me. I could walk away from almost everything we have and not look back…
I guess what this all means, at least to me, is that I know myself pretty well. The experiences of my sailing trip and the experiences of our four years in Belize and the experiences of our trips to places like Bryce Canyon and Barcelona and Paris – that is what I hold close to me and I am leaning towards framing more of the photographs I’ve taken during those travel but for now, writing these posts helps me be grateful. It helps me feel just how wonderful my life has been.
I am striving to make sure I understand and prioritize my Core Values and what is important to me and that becomes simple now.
My Health. Yim. My Relationships. My Friends. Freedom and Independence. Our Financial Security. None of those things can be de-cluttered. They are me.
Have stories to tell. Not stuff to show.
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