Simplicity

The last few weekends have been really busy for David and me.  Two weekends ago I enjoyed a LOVELY "girls night out" with my small group- - where we sat in the hot tub and ate free pizza and talked until we had to "spring forward."  (I hate daylight savings time so much more with a child.)  Anyway, this weekend I went to a "Simplicity Party" on Saturday and shopped with my mom in Lincoln on Sunday and went to KC on Monday to visit my sweet friend Sarah and her adorable baby, Levi.  I have been really thinking about the Simplicity party and am trying to get the thoughts out of my head and somehow "out."  This is my best attempt.

If I had to sum up the party, I would say this: "Why do you have all this extra stuff in your home (and therefore your life and mind) when people in our community legitimately need it?"  I ask myself, "why do you have a closet and a half full of clothes that you no longer wear, when the women of the Lydia House could really use and wear it?"  (My work clothing would be great for the Journey To Work Program!)  Suddenly, keeping an entire wardrobe of clothes because I hope to someday be my highschool size seems a little selfish.  (And who am I kidding?  I've had a BABY.  It's been TEN YEARS.  And even if I somehow starved myself and was that size again, I would take my new self to the mall and buy new, very stylish stuff!)  I am very committed to going through my closets and purging.  I need GET OVER my own weight, body and self esteem issues long enough to hand those clothes over to other women who could get some use out of them before they look like they belong in a theater costume closet for how people used to dress "back then."

So I need to give out of my abundance of clothes.  I want a small wardrobe that I actually WEAR.  Weird, I know.  I want to not hate putting away laundry and I would like to pull my clothes out without them being totally wrinkled from being smashed in between a bunch of stuff I don't wear.  But this goes further for me.  I feel like this is a good first step, and a second step would be asking myself, "What do I like and wear, but not need."  I think eventually giving away some or all of that (with a cheerful spirit) will help me free up even more clutter.  A good third step would be to use self control and shop with a purpose to avoid this problem in the future.

But I also want simpler drawers/hallway closets/etc.  I would like to eventually go through all the extra stuff in all my closets, under the sinks, in drawers, and clear out the clutter and give what we don't need.  I want a simpler office.  I want a smaller wardrobe for my son, and I want him to understand someday that there are kids with nothing, and that we aren't going to keep every toy from today until he graduates because other little people might really need them.

A fantastic interior decorator,  mom and wife hosted the party.  She had it in her home.  She is pretty extreme, which made me anxious (by nature), but I admired her attitude.  She has about 20 pieces of clothing, plus some "unmentionables".  She has one dress and one purse.  Some of her kitchen cupboards are BARE because she only keeps the cooking utensils, plates, cups, etc that she actually uses and needs.  She buys just enough food for the week with some standard staples for the kids (for about $45 a week!).  I am not sure that I will ever adopt all her principles, but I did love the way my mind felt when I wasn't surrounded by clutter.  I loved that every end table wasn't a mail room and that her kitchen counters were, well counters and not open storage units.  I want a simpler house, too.

Finally, I have also been contemplating how this carries over to my time management, work/life balance, spiritual walk, decision making, etc.  How can I also make this simpler?  I am not sure, but I'll be thinking about it as I clean out my closet!  If you have any ideas, please let me know!

On the journey.

Stef