“The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.”
― Joshua Becker
The past several years I have written down everything tangible I have discarded, donated, or gifted. Generally my average for a year hits about 500-600 items. But this year is different, I am aiming for 1,000. I am nearly there with 750 items. Yet this year is different. I am moving from a four floor house in the UK to an apartment less than 300 square feet in Paris. Although I will be having a large storage unit, my stuff has caught up with me.
Ever since I read the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I have become great at downsizing my clothing closet. I know what brings joy and what no longer serves me. What is difficult is all the other little things that I have shoved to the side to deal with at a later time. This includes excess paperwork at work I’ve needed to shred. 8 ½ years in one job adds up. Yet additionally it includes things I never got around to: the holiday cards I never sent, the old computers I never donated, the Halloween costumes I swore I would wear again, and even old gifts friends or family members gave me that I never fully embraced.
One interesting side effect has happened with one large purge. I am literally losing inches in my waistline, not anywhere else on my body, but my waist. My jeans are loose. Inches are gone. Excess baggage of the past has left my body now that I have allowed items to be departed.
I am not a pure minimalist. I call myself a subtractor. I still have a rainbow colored library that exists at home. But this brings me comfort, joy, and wisdom. And I’m okay with it.
There is beauty to letting go of what no longer serves you or ridding yourself of stuff that you never enjoyed but kept for the guilt of it. What you are left with are things that make you excited your atmosphere or getting dressed for the day. Imagine what your home and belongings would feel like if they had space to breath.
“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
— William Morris
It Only Takes A Smile 