I would never describe myself as a minimalist. I do love some of the comforts I have afforded myself. But the bits of collected stuff that seemed to have congested my life have been eradicated, tossed, vanquished.
I live in a small home that suits my needs and the needs of my dog. We have a vast amount of space outside and ample room inside to be quite comfortable. I have never been one to have rooms just for the sake of having rooms. Our life is simple, our life is comfortable and our life is manageable.
The largest room in our 600-square-foot home is the kitchen. This is why I chose this house. I remember standing on very high snow banks to peer into the windows before I began renting. As soon as I saw the kitchen, I knew this was meant to be my home. My kitchen is my haven. I love to bake and I love to cook. And even though I am currently cooking for one, creating food is a passion and not just a necessity. When I finally bought this home from my landlord, my renovation money was easily focused on the kitchen.
Over the years the clutter began to accumulate but, it wasn’t just the physical pieces that had been stashed into the corners, it was the collected bits of memories and regrets that had also been piling up in the invisible spaces in my house. These piles of intangible things had been standing between me and the life I was willing to move towards. It took a small dumpster and a great deal of courage to rid myself of the physical and mental obstacles in my life and be able to live free of the clutter that had been threatening to topple over and bury me under its weight.
After a few hundred dollars and several hours of intense labor, I was finally free of the clutter – all of the clutter. The physical reminders of a life that had failed and the mental reminders of things that were never meant to be were finally gone. For the first time in a long time, I felt free. I truly felt that the life I wanted now had a way to find me without having to circumvent all of the barriers I had created.
A little Spring cleaning can go a very long way and it can eventually clear the path that you were meant to follow.
polysyllabic profundities 
I really need to do this. My clutter has now got to the overwhelming stage where it is hard to know where to start. I get so far, then get stuck. It ends up in heap by the side of the bed. This has got so bad, that I actually have to launch myself out of bed every morning and make a giant leap every evening. I will heed your words!!
It really is freeing. I even slept better last night than I have in a while.
My bed will soon be elevated by the amount of clutter under and around it!!!
You’re making your own bunk bed!! How creative. 😉
Ditto what weebluebirdie wrote: Time to declutter physically so I can focus on what really matters. Thanks for these words of encouragement; if you can do it in a 600-square foot house, I should be able to do it in my own!
It helped to clear my mind as well. It’s worth the effort.
It is so good to be free. I periodically go through and purge my belongings. It makes me breathe more freely, especially when I pass things on to others.
I agree, it feels refreshing.
I absolutely agree! When life gets stressful, the stressed start tossing 🙂
All of the sudden, I have an urge to clean out my desk. Thank you for the Monday morning inspiration 🙂
It’s a great way to start the week. 🙂
It’s such a great feeling to clear the clutter. I’ve found I’m more productive when things are in order.
Me too, Jill. And I feel so much better walking in to my house knowing that everything is where is should be and there are no “things” left that I don’t use.
Oh the lightness! Enjoy that feeling – it’s a bit like starting anew…(by the way, I have ocd when it comes to clutter, throwing things away and driving everybody in my family crazy).
I feel so refreshed!! I love it.