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the past few years, I still am finding excess. Life is funny that way.
You get accustomed to the level of possession that you have. Things
seem important or have a purpose that you are sure will make itself
known the moment you part with that item. It is silly. We get this
idea in our heads that we must have all this stuff. The attitude is all
around us. Society tells us that you need to have certain "things" in
order to be acceptable. It is considered bizarre to not have a TV or
worse yet cable/satellite systems to give you the essential 150 channels
(or more) to choose from. I had someone tell me once that because we
don't have a TV that we are depriving the children of something they
need. Really??? TV is an essential need for proper childhood
development? WOW! I had no idea that TV was so critical. (Please
insert the intended sarcasm in that comment.)
We have begun the process of remodeling the house. The plans to build a
home fell through and so we are going to just remodel and update the
homestead. In the process, there is going to be a bedroom shuffle going
on. Currently, the study is being used by my eldest daughter & her
husband as a bedroom. They are fixing up the storage room (an
unfinished bedroom) to become their room. Once they move in, I will
move our bedroom into the study. Our bedroom, which is the largest,
will be fixed up for the kids' bedroom. It is large enough that we
could split it into 2 smaller rooms if we chose to. Once that room is
done, the kids' current bedroom, which is the smallest in the house,
will be fixed up for Beloved and I. Once our bedroom is finished and we
are in there, the study will once again be made into a homeschool
room/study.
With all the shifting around and remodeling ahead, I am decluttering yet
again. There is always more that can be purged, sadly enough. It is
liberating however. I am getting a strong sense of what is truly
important. Beloved and I believe that a home should reflect what the
family finds most important. When someone walks into your home, what
does it tell them about your family?
Decluttering your home and life of worldly excess is a process. You
didn't collect the excess overnight and unless a natural disaster took
place, you don't lose it overnight either. Living in a small home,
storage space is a premium. This means that you have to take a critical
look at what you are needing to store. Everything needs a purpose. It
goes back to that museum rebuilt home that I have spoken of before. As
was typical of the time, the home displayed only the barest necessities
that were used on a daily basis by the family. There was no clutter of
excess. It may be another person's nightmare to have a nearly empty
looking home but it is paradise to me.
