Minimalism

I'm fascinated by the idea of minimalism. It seems like it would solve a lot of my issues. I often feel overwhelmed by the amount of things that need my attention in some way, whether they need to be cleaned, organized, showcased in some way, etc. I have too much stuff, which causes me to not manage it effectively. I have many things that are sentimental, but they don't get my attention very often (if ever) because they usually don't serve a purpose. That lack of attention decreases the sentimental value until I eventually become irritated by its presence. Then it goes on the Freecycle network to (hopefully) become someone else's useful item, or relegated to some even darker corner of the house. And it becomes clutter.

Clutter is everywhere in my house. It makes me feel stressed. It's on my dining room table in the form of mail. It's on my bureau in the form of knickknacks, jewelry and other random things. It's in my basement (and loft) in the form of, well, whatever didn't seem to fit into the other rooms. I'm sort of a pack rat, but not like those people on that show about hoarders. My house looks like it belongs in one of those fancy home magazines compared to the hoarders'.

If I could get a handle on the clutter, I believe my psychological health would improve greatly. Imagine not having stuff everywhere that needs to be hidden or hurriedly dealt with just because a few people are coming over. The lack of stress would be nice!

In the past, I've read a few blogs about minimalism. I was inspired by them and took a few steps to pare down my clothing collection. While I donated a huge amount of clothing (at least five 30-gal trash bags worth) and now all my clothes have a home they belong in, I still have way more than would be considered minimal. My clothes fill two closets, a bureau, a dresser and a nightstand. I keep getting rid of things as the seasons pass and I realize I didn't wear something for at least 2 or 3 years. But I still buy new clothes on occasion, so my collection isn't shrinking.

My living room is much more peaceful than it used to be. I recently rearranged it. We had a glass top coffee table with a shelf. When we got it 5 years ago, I thought it wouldn't seem like it was taking up space because you could see right through the top. But I recently realized you could put stuff on the top AND on the shelf, so you see the stuff on top and the stuff on the shelf. It had become a center for clutter. My eyes were always seeing it since it was in the center of the room. We replaced it with a small leather storage ottoman. It instantly made the room feel calmer because it is just a single solid color so it is not distracting to the eye. And it is much more comfortable to put your feet on! Now the middle of the room is empty and I don't feel like it is being taking over by stuff so it has become my favorite room. I want all the rooms in my house to feel like that.


Thanks for reading my rambling post!

The first post.

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I created this to mainly be a repository for my thoughts. I will post about all kinds of things. Clutter, relationships, work, etc. I've heard that keeping a journal is beneficial for a variety of reasons. I've been wanting to keep one for awhile, but I didn't want to physically write in one. So, here we are! I'm sure my writing will improve over time, but until then you'll just have to deal with it.
I occasionally have bouts of thoughtfulness, and then wish I would have documented it somehow. I'm going to post whenever I feel the urge the write something. I'm not expecting anyone to read tho blog, but I imagine I may have a specific topic one day that will warrant being in its own blog. We'll see what happens!