Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

Sometimes I feel like shopping. It's true!  Even after more than 20 years of decluttering, simplifying my life, becoming debt-free, and writing about minimalism, I sometimes feel like shopping, even though I don't need anything. The 2020 holiday season was one such time.  After a year of so many trials and disappointments, it was tempting to try to buy my way out of feeling blue at Christmas.  I had a full (virtual) cart.  All I needed was a couple of clicks. So I did what I always do now – I waited. I waited because nothing in the cart was an urgent need.  I already had gifts for my grandsons, plenty of holiday décor, Christmas cards to address, goodies to make for the neighbors.  And I didn't need anything for myself. I waited because what I really wanted was some hope and joy, and I knew a couple of gadgets, a sweater, and a book or two wouldn't provide that.  I was anxious and a little depressed, and I wanted those feelings to go away.  But I remembered other times

When I first started decluttering, I had no idea of the time and effort it would take.  I don't think I realized how much extra stuff I had squirreled away in my home!  It was like getting ready to move house, except I had to make decisions about whether or not to keep each item.  Pretty soon, I started getting bogged down.   I wish I had known then what I know now. Want a kick start to decluttering? Subscribe to receive my free printable The Declutter Dare and declutter 100 (or more) items in just one hour! 10 decluttering methods (at least one will work for you!) If you've decided you want the space and freedom of an uncluttered home, you'll be happy to have ideas on  how exactly  to start reducing what you own.  The good news is that there isn't just one way to go about this task.  You're facing a large project, but there are  multiple strategies  that could work for you.   1.  One-a-Day Make or buy a small calendar and mark each day as you remove one unneeded o

Today we're celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. and his beautiful dream that we would view each other through the lenses of character, integrity, and kindness rather than color or ethnicity.  It's an ideal my own father lived by. Dreams of my father In March of 1955, my father was the 21-year-old son of an American living on the island of Trinidad in the West Indies.  My grandfather, the black sheep of his family, had left the U.S. more than 30 years before that to seek his fortune, and wound up working on oil rigs off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia.  My grandmother was Colombian, uneducated, cut off from her family by her unsatisfactory marriage to a wild non-Catholic. My father had a rather neglected childhood.  His father was home less than half the time and apparently took little interest in my dad, his oldest surviving son (four other children had died before my dad was born).  My father was not sent to school until the British colonial government

One of the things I particularly like about Marie Kondo's approach is her insistence that you touch each of your possessions as you declutter. Many of us have well-organized homes, with extensive storage solutions.  Some are even carefully styled and color-coordinated.  And so we think, "Look how neat and tidy my home is.  Look how attractive my clothes closet/pantry/linen closet looks!  I don't have a clutter problem!" But when confronted with the challenge of actually touching each and every thing we own, we balk.  We panic.  We feel overwhelmed with the impossibility of handling every item. Let yourself feel overwhelmed. Some studies show that the average American home contains 300,000 objects, from serving spoons to staplers to sofas.  That's 300,000 items to hold and evaluate.  To decide: Do I want or need to keep and use this?  If not, should I donate, sell, or discard it?  If I  am  going to keep it, is this the optimum place to store it?   Is it easy to a

At this point, Marie Kondo is practically a household name.  Most of us have at least skimmed her book,  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up , and a lot of us have watched her Netflix TV show.  And we've probably heard the all-important question we're supposed to ask about each of our possessions:   Does it spark joy? Investigating the pile But before we ask the question, we're supposed to put our hands on everything we own.  For example, a while ago I got every piece of clothing I owned from my closet, the dresser, the coat closet, the closet in the back bedroom, the storage boxes under the bed... wherever I had managed to stash clothing. I had a big pile of clothing on my bed, far more than I expected (even though I aspire to minimalism).  One of the most eye-opening results of Kondo's method is that you can't fail to realize exactly how much stuff you have .  Most of us have plenty . Now's the time to ask the question about joy.  Does this shirt or nightgow

We're all hoping that this year will be better than 2020 was.  But merely  hoping  for change is pretty useless, when we have the power to actually  make  a change.  Why stop at only one resolution for the new year?  I can think of other worthwhile enhancements to life here on earth. (If you haven't already read it, you might like my post about  how I started complaining less , and what I learned from my failure to completely eradicate complaints from my life.) 10 resolutions for a better year 1.  Smile Lately I've noticed tiny children in the grocery store who look at me expressionlessly when I catch their eyes.  It's because they can't see my smile through my mask!  It's a bit scary to see kids who don't smile (or even frown or stare at you like you're a crazy lady), and that's become more common in the last year.   So I'm going to keep smiling, especially when I eventually don't have to wear a mask in public.  I'm going to smile more a

New Year's resolutions are the very definition of best-laid plans.  Many of us make them, or try to improve our habits and behaviors at other times.  Unfortunately, a 2018 study which looked at millions of participants found that most of us give up within two weeks . Have you ever done that?  We all have ideals, but we don't always live up to them.  That's disheartening, but it truly is the effort that matters. My ideal My goal for December, was 31 days of no complaints .  And to be honest, I failed .  Big time. Here I was thinking I was a pretty positive person.  I thought I tended to find the bright side, to focus on the positive, to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Ha!  What did I discover instead?  I complain all the time about things large and small.  Even during the "happiest season of the year," I found plenty that I wasn't happy about. How do I know this?  One major result of my failed "No Complaints Challenge" was mindfulness.  At leas

Sometimes our homes just need a tune-up, rather than a complete declutter. Are you ready for your home to feel more spacious and poised for the new year?  As we take down our Christmas trees and put away holiday décor, it's the perfect time for a gentle cleanse. 5 adjustments to get you back on track Even though I've been practicing minimalism for a while, stuff creeps in.  Maybe I buy something new or replace something old and neglect to remove the out-of-date or no-longer-loved item.  But a quick and easy adjustment can put me back on a lighter, more streamlined path. 1.  Use fresh eyes. Go out your front door and reenter your home as a guest (or even a potential home buyer).  Use a fresh, discerning eye to view the space.  Consider your entry hall, living room, kitchen and dining area.  Go down the hallway and enter your bedrooms and bathrooms, and the room where you gather as a family.  Are you pleased with what you see? Maybe a desk, table, or countertop needs some attenti