Hello everyone,
I used to live a very cluttered life. My hobby was shopping and I was probably one of the best shoppers you would ever have met! Maybe even Olympic-class shopper. Not quite as good as my dear friend Barbara D., but we did some damage, that is for sure! I believed every space should have something "in" or "on" it. Now, think about that statement for a moment.....mind-boggeling isn't it??? Every wall, counter, table top and nook and cranny had something adorning it and I was always on the look-out for more! Is anyone thinking obcession??? Harmless you say??? Well, I thought so, but the truth was, these things were making me crazy (not insane, just frazzeled, turbulent in my spirit, the opposite of calm). Then we had a house fire! All of a sudden I experienced what William Wallace meant when he shouted FREEDOM!!!! (Mel Gibson in Braveheart). We moved into a two bedroom apartment with absolutely nothing but the clothes we had on and I had my purse....full of $$$ from the insurance company to buy any necessities we would need while our house was being restored! I bought two dishes, two knives, forks, spoons, mugs ....you get the idea. It was liberating. I know I have written about this before, but just this weekend we have been putting away our Christmas stuff and contemplating bringing back some of the pocessions we stored while we had the house on the market....once again moving back into this house. I want a leaner approach to the look of our home. Not austere, but certainly more open and less cluttered. We have walls with absolutely nothing but paint on them! I want order and simplicity and beauty and peace and comfy and charm. I want clean and hospitable and I want to entertain angels.
ttfn
tts
cathy
5 comments:
I have been thinking this is exactly what I need to do. Way too many things cluttering my life. It was good to read someone else's thoughts about it.
Pat
Cathy, lovely to see you blogging again. I'm contemplating a "return", as well. :-)
Your post really resonated with me. As you know, last August we sold (or gave away to children, other family members, and friends) *almost* everything we owned in order to move back to England. We sailed over on the Queen Mary 2, and only brought with us some clothing (even purged a lot of that before we left the U.S.), one small box of special Christmas ornaments/decorations, about 1/10th of the books we owned, and 3 boxes of only our most treasured possessions.
Right now everything is still packed away as we are living with my mother-in-law as we look for jobs and, later, our own place to live.
But the entire process was indeed liberating. And even as I contemplate having to buy the necessities we will be needing later on, I know that I will do so with an extremely discerning eye.
At this point in my life, less is most definitely more.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this great post.
Thanks Pat. Here's a hint : if you are afraid to rid yourself of certain items, pack them up in a box and put them away for several months. If you don't miss them, or forget you even have them....well, you really don't need them! I even tossed tea! :-)
Dear Denise, I followed your journey of down-sizing with great interest and admiration! Good for you guys, you realized the true value of "things"!
I'd just like to thank you for upsizing the font on this post! Ha! I think this mid life thing is starting with my vision!
Thanks for noticing, Joyce! I thought it might be easier for everyone to read, but am sure it helps us "elderly"....hehehe I wear two different pairs of glasses. One for distance, one for reading. I know, they invented bifocals....but even the dr. suggested I get cheap ones off the counter! that's what I did and wow, it is great.
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