Blue on Center

Home Archive for January 2015

I don't do New Year's resolutions. Instead I take inventory of my life: what's missing? What's excessive? What do I want to learn? What kind of friend/mom/wife/person am I becoming? And this year, after two very full and complicated years (think 2 moves, a whole house renovation and a fourth child), I'd like to live a simpler life. But how? I have four children, groceries, homework, school, a house, ballet classes, laundry, meal prep, friends & family, and a community that I am invested in. And I'd like to squeeze in some time to, you know, hang up my doorknobs and learn how to plaster 100 year old walls. Plus, I'd like this blog to be AWESOME (of course). This is not a "woe is me" story. I love the rhythms of my life, but I know that there are some things I'd like to add and subtract. Naturally, I check out Pinterest to see what other people are doing to simplify/organize/restructure. And get this: I end up feeling panicked and overwhelmed with anxiety because I don't have that organizing divider, or a well-appointment (always tidy!) desk in my kitchen to serve as the epicenter for sorting mail/paying bills/making lists/filing papers. Surely if I had those things, my life would be better/simpler/organized, right? And then I feel anxious because I don't have a Container Store in the area, or for that matter, space in my kitchen for a desk.

And I began to feel defeated. Pinterest is ruining me. (And yet I love it).

There must be a way to use what I already have rather that to go out a buy stuff that supposedly will make my life simpler. That's my plan over the next couple of weeks: to simply go through areas in my home and life and create new rhythms without investing a bunch of money into clear plastic containers.

In the next couple of weeks, I'd like to share in a journey with you about taking real, actual steps in living a simpler life.

Today is Day One. I packed up a bunch of stuff and took it to Goodwill. Of course, I had to do so secretively because my children would panic if they knew I gave away all the things they never play with and will never miss. After leaving Goodwill, I felt better and my house feels better to be in because there's more space now for the things we do use.

Here's my project for today. This is exactly how my desk looks at this moment. I can't stand it.