I subscribe to several minimalist feeds, and this morning I clicked on one that ended up addressing JUST what I have been thinking. I have been spurred on in my minimalist thinking every time I stayed in a hotel. There is nothing there to mess up, if you pick up your clothes (ahem... that would be the key, children). Every time I challenged myself to pack light enough NOT to check a bag at the airport, I have really wanted to transfer the same thinking to life in this house. I am not alone in this type of thinking as I see This Person has also been inspired to minimize by traveling. Not only do I think she is spot on in what she is saying, but there were several ideas in her post I will be using. The biggest one is this:
1. Choose what to keep. My first instinct when I set out to declutter was to choose what to toss. But then I reasoned: why not start with a blank slate—like an empty suitcase—and choose only what I wanted to include in my life? I outfitted my household as if I were packing a bag, choosing things carefully and deliberately, and getting rid of the excess.
I have considered this before as I moved to my summer bedroom and back down again. Empty the room and ONLY PUT IN IT WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KEEP! That is exactly how I am approaching this new attempt at minimalism. I am so inspired and so psyched to keep moving forward with this! Stay tuned :)
3 comments:
Hi Linda, remember me? Yeah, the crazy mom of one bipolar son in Phoenix who wanted to adopt a sibling group. Three kids, ages 6 (girl), 7 (girl), and 8 (boy) were placed with me April 15. CRAZINESS has ensued! I opened my home with my eyes wide open, knowing that I am called to do this, and knowing that it would be extremely difficult.
Tonight: four kids refusing to go to bed for various reasons. New boy emitting long strings of cuss words from his mouth. Teen boy swatting the girls with a tshirt repeatedly. Two girls finally went to bed, until teen boy poured their glass of water on one of their beds. After a lot of testing behaviors, I lost my cool and yelled at new boy "GO TO BED. NOW!!" and he started screaming, then crying ... no, sobbing ... because he misses his birth mother. Then the girl with the wet bed was crying, and the bully teenager was standing outside her room glaring at her and throwing baseball cards at her. I was curled up with grieving boy and two watchful dogs in his bed and couldn't do anything about it. Oh, I forgot the parts when new boy was jumping up and down on a dresser, teen boy grabbed his blanket and "ran away" for 15 seconds, one girl has headlice, one girl's hearing aids are broken until our appt on June 20, new boy has an ear infection, and teen boy has strep.
Hmmm.
God bless me. Daily. Hourly. Please!
I yi yi... God Bless you girlfriend! I have been where you are. The absolute biggest help with our new four (who had/have HUGE 'won't go to bed and go to sleep' issues: MELATONIN! All four kids take 3 3mg tabs at supper time and by 8 or 8:30 pm they are ready to hit the sack. It has been a lifesaver. I never would have believed it. It is available over the counter at Walmart, Walgreens, etc. I highly recommend giving it a try... I will be praying for you!
Thanks for the melatonin idea. I will get some when I pick up tea tree oil to ward off headlice. I will be praying for you and Jayme as well.
Jen
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