living better with less

stuff. 

we buy it. we use it for a while. we clean it. we store it.

multiply that with however many stuff you own....

it's overwhelming isn't it?

One of the things my grandmother often told me when I lived with her is this: the more things you have, the more things you have to take care of and worry about.  Lately those words have been resounding in my head every time I clean up.  I have been feeling as if these random little things we own are making a slave out of me, consuming my valuable time for their upkeep and in stowing them away.  It made me pause and realize that these possessions are not only cluttering the space we live in but that they also clutter my mind.  Seeing clutter bother the heck out of me so I spend countless hours keeping things in order and tidy.  A task almost near impossible when living with a 3 year old child.

Thankfully we do not own much.  But still I know we own so much more than what we really need.  We own stuff that are of no more use that are just sitting on the shelf accumulating dust.  We own stuff that can be of use but not worth the effort and time it demands for its maintenance.   I read somewhere that “Things are thieves of time.” It's true.  How much of my free time have I spent organizing and putting away clutter?  How many hours have I spent working in order to buy more stuff?  These material things robbed me of precious time I could have spent bonding and having fun with my daughter in her early years.  

So I am setting out on a new life adventure.  To live simply and with much less.  I am not going hardcore like this guy, but minimizing just enough to free some space for the more important matters in life.  By freeing some living space I hope to gain freedom and the much needed inner peace in return.

Overall, the idea is to scale back on the complexity of life.  To have a mindset that we do not have to have more and bigger things to feel good about ourselves.  There is more to life than keeping up with the Joneses.

I understand this change is not going to happen overnight.  As many such changes, it takes time and adaptation.
But there has to be a set time to start, and that time is now.  I will document this new lifestyle on this blog under less stuff. better life.

My first step is avoiding the urge to buy new things that are not essential.  Second will be to eliminate the unnecessary. One piece at a time.

Wish me courage, will power and positive results, my friends, as I go through it one step at a time.

“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” - Socrates