This year I'm on a mission to simplify my life, in every single way. To date, I have literally taken car loads of items we no longer need or use to charity shops. And, I have filled bags and bags of linen and clothing and delivered them to clothing bins, yet there's still more to do.
Right now I'm listening to The Year of Less by Cait Flanders on Audible. She not only talks about her process of decluttering her life, but the reasons she accumulated so much stuff. This is what I'm now doing, examining why I ended up with more than I need. It's the only way I will refrain from falling into the same trap.
Some of our extra items are from the time when my husband and I lived in two cities; working in Auckland during the week and coming home to Tauranga at the weekends. But that time is over now, and we do not need all of those household items. There are other things though that I have bought over the years. Either I really loved it or it was on sale or I thought I would use it one day, upcycle it or some other such justification I made. This is the behaviour that I want to change. I do not want to end up in the same position again in 12 months time or ever for that matter. I do not need more stuff. I just do not.
So, today I am going through my wardrobe yet again. When chatting with a girlfriend earlier, I said I was going to put anything I don't wear into the spare wardrobe, then get rid of it in six months time. Her response was very on point. She suggested putting them into boxes in the garage for that period of time, then they go straight to the charity shop.
I really don't know why I didn't think of this because it's exactly what I did six months ago with the kitchen items and there they sit in the garage (and I've only been into them twice and taken three things out). Now, I just have to load them into my car and get rid.
The trouble is, I'm having trouble with my clothing. With kitchen appliances, crockery and cutlery and so on I find it easy to let it go, but with clothing it's a different story. I guess when I bought the piece of clothing I had an idea that it would look really cool because I loved the colour or style and I'd enjoy wearing it. But the biggest reason I didn't wear it was because I didn't actually have anything to wear it with. This has been my mistake. A good lesson to take from this is to plan my outfits so I do have things that match.
I'm making great progress this year though, so I will focus on that, and continue to do the next bit and the next bit until I'm done. I'd love to have it completed by the end of 2021. I know it sounds crazy that it could take a whole year to declutter, but I have a lot of stuff between our home, my clothing and my business. And, I've been out of action for a good few months between my vitamin and mineral deficiencies back in January, my respiratory virus in April/May and my lumbar sprain in July/August.
Needless to say, I'm not pushing myself because I think that is my biggest lesson this year.
Question: What have you found useful or difficult when decluttering? I'd love to hear your experience in the comments.
Until next time,
