De-Cluttering

The past couple of months I have been de-cluttering our home. I began to feel like my clutter (the collection of “stuff” that I had accumulated over the years) was creating an overwhelming burden to clean, maintain, think about, and store. Just as my mind has been cluttered with too many things to think about, my home has become cluttered with too many things to take care of. There are things that don’t reflect who we are or that we simply do not need at this season in our lives.

I am feeling good about the process. It will take awhile to arrive at the level of simplicity I’m looking for, but I am seeing daily progress. So we’ve given away some family items to our kids; I’ve given some children’s books and other special items to friends, and we’ve donated many things to Goodwill.

Because our shelves are less packed, I am actually being able to find books that were old friends and read them, instead of searching because I couldn’t figure out where they were on the shelf. I can actually find my way through the tablecloth drawer, because it only contains those I actually use. I’ve streamlined my tea cup collection just a little, so I can see what I have and enjoy looking at those I’ve kept and really intend to use. Going from room- to-room and shelf- to-shelf takes time. But it feels so freeing to be less encumbered by stuff…and to have my home filled only with the things I need in this season of life.

Our home is not just looking less cluttered; it also feels more restful. And I actually feel a difference inside me as I de-clutter not just my home…but my mind and my life.


- Julie