What would you be relieved to be rid of?

Recently, when watching youtube videos on the topic of minimizing, I came across the one below.  Vera offers  up 10 questions to use when decluttering.  My first thought was that surely there was nothing new here, but I figured it might be worth listening to anyway.  Check it out if decluttering, minimizing, or even just evaluating your shopping habits is something you're interested in:

I was actually surprised.   While I suppose the concepts behind the questions aren't exactly new, the questions themselves provided just enough newness that it sparked some motivation to once again get with the program of downsizing, getting rid of, minimizing...

The question that really struck me was, "If someone told me I HAD to get rid of this [insert object here] and I didn't have a choice, would I secretly feel relieved?"

I instantly recognized this question as being a form of one I often ask myself:   "Does this item spark guilt?"  Or, the idea of feeling relieved is similar to the experience I have when something I've been hanging onto is found ruined somehow.  Once I get over the initial feeling of guilt or frustration that I allowed something to become ruined, I'm actually relieved to just toss the thing and be done with it. It doesn't make me feel virtuous to have these feelings, or to admit this, but I doubt I'm unique in having this experience.

Interestingly, as I turned away from the computer my eyes landed on the magazine below - that somehow had gotten loose from the stack of crochet and knit magazines I was sorting through earlier.  

Applying the question to it, I instantly knew the answer to the question was "Yes!  I'd feel relieved if I was forced to get rid of it."   For some reason I hang onto it - I'm sure because it sparks some feelings of nostalgia.  But honestly, not enough to warrant hanging on to it.  I love me a fun granny square, but seriously...  I'm not going to make anything in this magazine!  Ever!

Then I decided to do a quick walk through some rooms and within about 5 minutes of just opening some closets and some drawers, I quickly came up with this collection of stuff that I also feel relieved to part with:

Who knows why these things didn't make the cut when I was decluttering in November, or since then, but today I say an easy "Bye-Bye!" to them.  

While it's only a few items, I feel lighter.  I feel lighter when anything leaves the house anymore.  And armed with some questions asked in fresh-to-me ways, I think I'm finally motivated to dive into some specific spaces for cleaning and decluttering as thoughts are turning to spring.

On my list of obvious areas to declutter/downsize:

• pantry
• closets by front door
• my clothes closet
• bathroom linen closet
• storage area - that is our furnace room
• laundry room
• a paper crafting space off my closet
• an alcove that mostly contains books and DVDs
• and always...  books.

I don't know where I'll start first.  I may start on one and change my mind.  Honestly, none of these spaces appeals to me at all to pull apart, sift through, and put back together.  But hopefully by next week about this same time I'll have made a decision and will have made headway on tackling one of these areas.   If so, I'll be back to report on it!  😊

Magazines!

Happy 2020, everyone!

First up, I want to share a link to a cyber friend who's doing a January downsizing project.  Mary Anne at Magpie's Mumblings has challenged herself to get rid of at least 5 things for each day of the month.  You can read about her start here, and join her if you like!  I know I'll be following along with great interest.  

As for my own start to downsizing in 2020, I'm starting with something relatively small (for me), but oh so easy to lose control of if one isn't careful.  Magazines!   In general, magazines are not things I keep or even really like subscribing to anymore.  My MIL likes to give me an inexpensive magazine subscription every year or so and each month I quickly look through it and usually recycle it before the month is over.  But there are some genres that, for me, are just plain hard to get rid of.

Back in November, when I was getting rid of some old homeschooling magazines I no longer wanted, Mrs. T shared in a comment on that post that she likes to swap out her saved Taste of Home magazines every season.  She keeps them visible and I assume because they're handy she looks through them throughout the season looking for ideas.

I thought that was a great idea!  Magazines that I have too many of, but rarely go through are Taste of Home magazines and various crafting magazines.   While I thoroughly enjoyed looking through these magazines when I received them, they don't see the light of day very often, and they are doing no good at all stored neatly away in a cabinet or on a bookshelf.  I need to either put them to use, or re-home them.

So... yesterday I pulled out all the early spring crafting magazines I own, and will keep them stacked on a table in my craft den - close to the rocker, within easy reach.  

This little pile doesn't look like much, but I have about 10 times this many covering the other seasons, so I'm setting a loose goal of getting rid of one or two magazines each month.  That should whittle them down a bit.  I'm actually expecting that as I look through them, I'll pretty quickly decide I don't want to keep all of them.  

Same with my Taste of Home magazines.  Today I'm pulling out all the February/March issues I own.  Going to do that now...

I'm back.  And Oh Wow!  I had no idea I had so many!  Keep in mind, these are just the February/March magazines I've collected over the years!  And I haven't subscribed to this magazine in about 10 years!  There are at least 8, maybe 10 times this many still in my cookbook cabinet.  😧 And I just looked and counted 7 annual TOH cookbooks.  Books that include many of the recipes found in the magazines I own!!!

Oh boy...  this may not be as easy as I imagined.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I'm going to take a deep breath before diving in...   Though, I can't help but wonder if maybe I should have started with only half of them...  😟 

Another thought is that I may quickly get some clarity here. That kind of thing happens when you start getting serious about downsizing and decluttering.   I'll give it this month, and then maybe report what happens on the "saved magazines" front.

As I get ready to hit "publish" on this post, these seem like good words to start the year off with:

Like what I've been blessed with.  

Use what I have.

Share my surplus with others.

Goodbye 2019! Goodbye Stuff!

As 2019 comes to a close, I can't help but be a bit reflective as I anticipate a new year starting tomorrow.  In November of last year I took on the challenge to complete the 30-Day Minimalism Game.  Below is a video explaining how it's played: 

It was a success - not just in getting rid of at least 500 things, but in getting me freer about letting go of even more stuff.  I now know I want less.  

Well, that's all well and good to say, but culling through a lifetime of stuff isn't exactly easy. And unless a person is willing to be ruthless, I'm presently of the opinion that it's best to be a tad measured and methodical about it.   It took us 39+ years to accumulate all our stuff.  So what if it takes three or four, or more years to clear our home and lives of so much of it?  Don't tell hubs I said that.  Hopefully he's not reading this.

Here's the thing (and it's a big thing), one of our goals is to move into a one-story home - hopefully sooner rather than later.  We're fine with waiting until the right home presents itself, but in the meantime we're trying to be focused on getting this house ready to put on the market.  That means painting and recarpeting where needed, but cosmetically, that's about it.  Our kitchen needs a serious overhaul, but we ain't doin' it.  'nuff said on that.  The main thing we truly need to do to be ready to move is to get rid of stuff.  Not only to make this home look better to potential buyers, but so that we can fit what we're keeping inside that (probably smaller) next home we hope to move into.

Sure, it would be great if we didn't have to downsize our square footage, but that probably isn't realistic considering a one story home of the square footage we're accustomed to would have a significantly larger footprint on the landscape than our present tri-level home does. And truthfully...  while two full baths and two half baths were great while raising three boys, I'm ready to move into something that doesn't need as much upkeep.  So...  as we think about the future, stuff just needs to go.  And you know what?  Even if we didn't need to downsize, I now know I want less stuff.  But I said that already, didn't I?

Here's the rub...   I'm very much a process person.  I'm all about process.  In just about every area in my life.  I want to know how things work, why they work, how someone thought of a thing in the first place.  I want to know why people do the things they do.  Even if understanding these things is beyond me, I'm curious enough to slow down and ponder something for a bit.  So, you can imagine, as I sort through things, I want to recall memories, I want to consider why I kept a thing in the first place.  And inevitably, I get distracted.

Hubs, on the other hand, isn't what I'd call a process person.  About much, anyway...  And, as you can possibly imagine, being on opposite ends of the process/product continuum, can cause a lot of conflict.  In retirement, there seems to be a little more patience on both our parts toward the other, but our general personalities haven't (and won't) change.

That said, the 30-Day Minimalism Game actually helped me in my processing.  It didn't change me into being less about the process, but it helped me get through some of my processing more quickly.  It made me more efficient.  And I experienced the euphoria of letting go and getting free.  I like to think I got some clarity that will carry me forward.

I'm hoping to move forward here - writing and sharing about downsizing, minimalizing, getting clarity about stuff, getting clarity about letting go of stuff.   I'm not sure what that will look like.  I don't know if I'll post once a week, or once a month about it, but I do know I want to share what I'm learning and experiencing.  So stay tuned!  😉

Sunday posts (for the time being, at least) will continue to be Year of Project posts - where I share what I'm creating and anything related to that part of my life.  And scattered throughout a month I may randomly write posts about the process (and, hopefully, results) of downsizing.  Or I may find a rhythm to regularly sharing about it.  We'll see.  

Either way, I plan to share what I come across that is helpful to me in downsizing and minimalizing this year.  Tips and inspiration for working through getting rid of stuff, and figuring out what motivates me.  I expect to link to others' blog posts, books, articles  - anything that helps me and inspires me.  I already know of one person who's using January to downsize. 😃  I'll link to her blog tomorrow and I look forward to finding inspiration from her in the next month.

If you're downsizing or decluttering too, it would be great to hear from you.  If you're a blogger and downsizing, I'd very much like to follow your journey.   

Come join me, or just follow along.  I'll take the company and encouragement any way it comes!