So in an effort to document more of the little things in life, I am planning to blog more often about current things happening in our lives. Even if it seems boring and mundane at the time, it is the stuff life is made of. 
We've been doing a lot of simplifying in our lives... getting rid of stuff, saying No to stuff we don't need, using things we have and slowly becoming more self-sustaining. I've been reading a lot on minimalism lately and it has sort of swept social media by storm lately. Minimalism is definitely on the rise and I totally see the appeal to it. For so many years I thought I needed to be more organized, then I finally realized, I just need less stuff. I actually went through a slight hoarding phase after I lost several loved ones in my life, namely my grandparents. Following the death of each grandparent, I found myself wanting to keep everything associated with a memory of them. From books and nicknacks to couches and big pieces of furniture, there was little I said no to if it once belonged to a beloved grandparent.
I found myself being super bogged down in clutter both physically and mentally. I have donated truck loads and still find myself being over run with junk. The goals I have for our home, our animals, our garden, and our life cannot be accomplished with too much junk standing in the way. It just won't happen. For instance, our garage has been a sore spot for years. It has never been a place to park our cars. In the two homes we've lived in we have always just stored stuff in it. Unused items and unfinished projects just constantly pile up and create this jungle of chaos and stress in my life. I'm so tired of keeping things I don't love just because the person who gave it to me is special to me.
I have tried to implement the rule of asking myself these questions before making a purchase:
1. Do I NEED this item?
2. Do I LOVE this item?
(as opposed to just shopping out of boredom or habit)
3. Will this item make my life better?
If you are simplifying using the KonMari Method you would ask yourself, "Does this item spark JOY when you touch it?" Read more about the KonMari Method. I did find that I became a more mindful shopper after reading her book, The Life-Changing Art of Tidying Up about a year ago, and my t-shirts have never looked neater in my drawers, that's for sure!
Our process of simplifying has been just that, a process. It definitely has not happened over night and we still have a long road a head of us. Sometimes I don't know exactly what the road ahead looks like. I know it is a lot more than having a capsule wardrobe or folding my t-shirts a certain way. I doubt I will ever be a type of minimalist who only has like a bed and one dresser in their room. That's just not my style. However, having less is certainly a goal. At the same time I want less stuff, I also want to be more self-sustaining and depend on big retail places less and less.
I have even noticed, the way I look at everyday life is changing. I have less of a desire to be a part of the normal society and more of a longing to just find happiness in what we already have. So much of society is keeping up and knowing what's trending. There are apps for everything and constant alerts letting us know this and that. It's overwhelming, quite frankly, and instead of trying to keep up, I would just rather not. I'm okay with turning off technology and focusing on gardening instead. I'm okay with not having the latest gadgets. I'm okay with not shopping at Target to have the latest thing that came out. I'm okay with borrowing or making things we need instead of going to buy something new. I'm okay with being content with what we have. Maybe this all means that I'm getting older...and you know what I'm okay with that too.
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