Aggrandizement-Cessation-Bestow-Rest

                                          Open space in your life for people and
                                                         experiences not things.

     I'm still alive. My days and weeks have been filled with the dispersion of the accumulation of things. I had no idea what my summer would look like. Usually it's spent on trips to the beach, swimming and enjoying not having to do school. When I stumbled on The Minimalists for the umpteenth time I finally sat down and read what they had to say. Several hours later after watching you tube videos and reading blogs on how people have changed their lives by living with less, I felt emboldened and realized that I too was ready to jump into less.
     I chose words for the title of this post to reflect how my life has gone from all kinds of stuff to finding rest and contentment in my place. There wasn't an area of my life that didn't have excess. What we really need are relationships with people and the time to do those well. When you spend your life cleaning and organizing you really don't have the energy to contribute in a life or do something you really want. How many times do you find yourself saying, "wow I wish I could do that but my laundry and kitchen look like a tornado hit. I need to spend the next four hours cleaning it up." Maybe you don't need all that stuff to clean. When you look at your life it is a wisp of smoke. How much of it do you want to use on your stuff? How much more time would you like to do the things you actually want to do. The message of consumerism is that you always need more. Consumption is a part of life and necessary. Compulsory consumption is where the problems lie. When you step back and start being intentional with the things you buy you might surprise yourself on how much you really don't need. Here is a recent example from my life. Our couch was completely worn out. Couldn't sit on it without pain and discomfort. We walked it out to the front and it was hauled away. Normally we would go and buy a new couch. Not this time. We have lawn chairs in here and one of my kid"s beds is out here as they like to camp out in the summer. None of us are in a hurry to add anything to our place. There is nothing wrong with owning a couch. We will probably going to get one eventually. I just think it's important to stop and think and wait. We are enjoying our apartment more and more as things go away. I want to buy something after there is much thought put into it. Not just run out and buy the next thing.
   

  This is a picture of how cluttered our place had become. No we are not minimizing our children. If you look past their cute little faces you can catch a glimpse of how every space was being overrun.

 
  This is where we are as of today. I look around and feel so much freer and happier. I'm not adding things. I'm learning what I value and letting go of everything else. An empty space is ok. It doesn't have to be filled with anything. Perhaps with opening up space you can invite people or more lasting and enjoyable experiences. I wanted to share a little of what has been happening over the last several weeks. I love books but was being taken over by them. I challenged myself to move to one bookshelf. I love that all the books I own matter to me and are ones that I want. For some other books I am going to start using a Kindle. I know it's not the same as books. Did I mention I love books? I just realized that I want to use more of the digital age we live in. I can now take a bunch of books with me without dragging a suitcase behind me. Here are some other things.
                              1) Cleared out a bunch of pages that I had liked on Facebook. I have no idea
                                   why I was following all these pages but I didn't care about any go them.
                                   Seeing all that info daily was draining. Too much energy. I also cleared
                                   out people who just aren't in my life. I don't feel obligated to keep people
                                   on Facebook just because. Relationships come and go. It's important to let some          
                                   of them go.
                              2) Everyday I started unsubscribing to e-mails. I don't know why but I would get      
                                  e-mail everyday and just delete it. Time wasted on stuff I don't care about. I'm
                                  not buying stuff so I don't need all the information filled with deals and sales. I
                                  love not being bombarded with all the useless promotions telling me I need
                                  something.
                               3) All my bills are e-bills. I had a big 4 drawer file cabinet holding files filled with
                                    papers I don't need. Oh the forests that have been lost to my shredder. By
                                    utilizing the digital age I was able to sell the file cabinet and get a very small
                                    file holder that sits on wheels. It is so small and wonderful. This change made
                                    a huge dent in clearing space in a small closet we had. I also have less brain
                                    energy spent on knowing it's full of stuff but never knowing what it is.
                                4) I turned off all my notifications on my phone. This has been HUGE. For
                                     someone who had developed the social media and e-mail checking twitch,
                                     this has been magnificent. My husband actually inspired me in this. He did it
                                     first and as he was talking about it I thought I would try it also. It's wonderful.
                                     I feel like I'm living in life's moments and not being distracted by other
                                     things pulling at my attention.
                                 5) Photos and albums. I'm sure there are groans. This took days to fix. I had
                                       albums and they were taking up precious space. I never look at these albums.
                                       So I emptied all my albums and then my daughter and I spent the next
                                       several days seeing what we had on the computer and seeing what still
                                       needed to be put on disc. A monumental project that I'm happy to say is
                                       done. I did discover that I'm not attached to every picture ever taken.
                                       Realistically no one is. We just accumulate and wind up buried under all
                                       these memories. I deleted photos. Don't miss them. I have plenty. I don't
                                       want anything that weighs me down. Memorabilia is a sand pit. Clear it out.
                                       You will be ok.
     I really only want to have things I'm using and fill my life with people I love. Things are tools that enable us to accomplish stuff. I want room for experiences, growth as a person and contentment. It's impossible when every thought is captured with the next thing we want to buy. There is no room to find value when your packing it in. I feel like I'm almost here but I want to be able to walk away from all of it. I like what I have but I do not want to be owned by consumerism any longer. Don't be afraid of discomfort and empty spaces. Let it all settle in around you. Change isn't usually easy. We have to reset our brain and impulses. Put yourself in check. Dig deep and leave nothing unturned. What remains may surprise you. Don't look back.
Blessings,
Gadiela    

Lean In

     The strangest thing has been happening as my things leave this house. The more I get rid of things the less I want. When I was acquiring things it never seemed to end. It was never enough. As the daily relinquishing happens I am experiencing a domino effect. When you don't have tons of clothes you don't need big suitcases to hold all your stuff. When you have less movies you don't need another piece of furniture to hold them. Utilize the digital age we live in. We develop a twitch over the years of when we come upon something we think we need we go get it. Instead stop and ask what your adding to your life that requires stuff to hold more stuff. Make stop your new twitch. See if you can borrow something instead of buying it.
     I wanted to encourage you all in this journey of less. I have been working non-stop for the last several days. For awhile it looked like everything was getting worse. Like I'm never going to get all this stuff out of here. This is when you need to lean in and press forward. I was inspired by one of the blogs I read to start with clear countertops in the kitchen. For 18 years I have never had that. Two nights ago the mission was accomplished.

This is just one shot of my kitchen. This dresser had three appliances and cutting boards and a cart next to it. I sold the cart. I found new homes for the other two appliances because by getting rid of other stuff I made room for what I actually use. Nothing in my life has gone untouched. Movies and music have been purged. I got rid of some wine glasses but kept the ones that were given to me by a really good friend. They are small and a little swirly and irreplaceable. They have the greatest value, I enjoy them and use them. I encourage you to ask your friends and neighbors if they need anything. People love free stuff and maybe it will spark a conversation that you might not normally have. Be generous with others. You never know what others need or in what way they are struggling. It's not even really about the free thing. It's the act of a perfect stranger giving them something without expectation that reaches into the deep recesses of the soul. The other night I was laying in bed looking at the moon and I was overcome by how beautiful it was. In that moment I was able to relish the beauty of the moon completely. I felt like I wanted for nothing and the hounding of "I want" was silenced in the beauty of moonlight. I live in a small apartment and I can actually say I have space. 

     In my last blog I made a statement to the negative about a person only having 100 things. I would like to make a new statement which reflects what I meant to say more fully. I have deep admiration for those who live with little and value relationships more. You are why I'm moving towards minimalism. Every time I start to hold onto something I think hey, others have let go and allowed better lasting things in their lives. I can let go. So thank you for your inspiration to live mindfully and with purpose. For those of you in a robe on top of a mountain, smoking a pipe, I dream of peace and quiet. You have managed to find it. Some of the great joys in life are having an appreciation for how we are all made differently with our likes and dislikes. With all my heart I desire to welcome all and learn from each other. As we grow together we can encourage one another towards being the best of who we are.

     The last part today is the recipe for my Sangria.

 

If you live near a Trader Joes then you can purchase these there. If not just find an Italian sparkling red wine and some kind of blood orange sparkling soda. I poured these into a pitcher. I added a bag of frozen fruit. Chop into chunks two lemons, two limes, (no peelings) and 2 apples. Throw it all together and your done. It's refreshing and delicious. 

     Lean in and be bold in your decisions. Challenge yourself like never before. Reevaluate what value means. You might just be surprised by joy and freedom.

Blessings,

Gadiela