I am far from a minimalist and I really do derive great comfort from my home and my belongings. Creating a home, to me, is all about being surrounded by things that are meaningful and beautiful to the people who live there.
There comes a point, however, when things can outlast their usefulness or meaning. I’ve done sweeps through the house more and more often lately, sometimes in anger at all the clutter, and I end up donating or giving items to people who can use them more than we can. Freecycle is great for finding someone local who might love to have that half-full bottle of expensive shampoo your daughter is sure doesn’t smell good on you (ahem). Animal shelters need blankets and towels. There are many places that take old eyeglasses and distribute them to people in developing countries.
The goal for this month is to clear some part of your home and reclaim a feeling of spaciousness – the ability to let your eyes rest on empty space. Calm. Empty and serene.
It’s about clutter but it’s also about our time. We can spend a lot of time on our little knickknacks. Have you ever thought about how much time you spend moving items around, dusting them, thinking about them? I am way too busy to waste even a few seconds on the same little thing week after week. Being disorganized or having a lot of physical clutter really does affect your ability to get things done. Which of your things are you willing to spend time on and which are you not? Walk through a room with a box and fill it with all the stuff you don’t use or care about anymore. No judgements allowed, but do imagine how great you will feel afterwards.
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An opportunity to pare down came up this past month when a missionary family was being sent to Houston from South Sudan. Long story short, they left in great haste with only the clothes on their back and were in need of everything that goes into making a new home.
My daughter would have an absolute melt down if she saw that I gave away some of her old toys, but the playroom was getting a bit ridiculous. It’s shocking to me that we can live in such (relative) luxury when there are kids who would love to have even one doll. We haven’t used/played with these items in ages so I felt great giving them to people who will get lots of enjoyment from them.
In addition to toys, I gave the family my extra pots and pans, shelves, shampoo, pillows, picture frames – all things not being used by us and taking up space. Now my daughter’s playroom feels lovely to spend time in and she can better see what she has to play with.
Here are some photos of the rental house:
I was imagining this family with three young kids coming to this house that a church has rented for them, being unfamiliar with the city, the people, and their surroundings. How scary! They do challenging work, dedicating their lives to making the world better. I wanted to help make their new surroundings home-like for them.
I also wanted to show my daughter how fortunate she is. So I took her over to the house to help me hang some of my photography prints on the bare walls. Big mistake. She usually doesn’t notice when something is missing if it disappears when she’s not around. This time, my daughter 1) noticed that they have the same doll houses that she has (ahem), among other things and 2) has asked me so many times where her doll houses are and I had evaded the question an equal number of times that I chose to secretly buy her a new one… exactly the same one she had and really didn’t play with before. (It wasn’t right for me to decide to give it away without asking her, and I didn’t want to suffer the effects of her anger.) This story has a happy ending: now she plays with her doll house every single day, imagining scenarios for the little family inside and making play dough food for them.
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Remember, as long as we cling to old stuff we don’t have the space for new stuff, whether experiences or belongings or energy. 🙂
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Please let us all know in the comments what you’re up to this month! Have fun with it. 🙂
If you have ideas for other monthly prompts in the Soulful Home series, I’m all ears.
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