Saturday, March 26, 2011

Less is More i.e. Getting Rid of the Crap

I've been reading this awesome book for the past few days:
The Joy of Less, a Minimalist Living Guide by Francine Jay.  Is it awesome?  Yes.

I had gotten a little lost in the stuff packed in my house.  Tackling it became more and more difficult because I was overwhelmed.  I felt defeated before I started.

I'm such a headcase when I declutter.  "I could use it."  "I plan on doing that project."  "I will fit in that."  Blah. blah. blah.

Not only is The Joy of Less a room-by-room how-to declutter guide, but it is a pep talk before you even start.  The first part of the book is the psychology of it all, and now I feel clear on what I'm doing before I tackle the junk.  It even tells you how to declutter your schedule.  Yes!  I can't wait until I get to that chapter.  A totally foreign concept to me.

Minimalism.  It's a beautiful thing.  Simple.  Uncluttered.  Uncomplicated life.

Francine Jay has a blog called miss minimalist.  In her "100 Possessions" series, she writes about getting rid of all the small glasses, tall glasses, wine glasses, etc. and just using tumblers.  I like this idea.  I think I might get rid of all the cup clutter and simply use tumblers and mugs.  One style of each and get rid of the rest.  To be honest, I love my mugs and I drink wine out of them.  I also love it when a restaurant serves wine in tumblers.  I feel a tinge of guilt getting rid of all my nice wine glasses.  Some were expensive gifts.  Some of my old coffee mugs have kid photos on them. These are the feelings that start adding clutter to our lives.  What feeling will I have when all that stuff is gone and the tumblers and mugs are left, looking all nice and orderly?  Probably won't miss the expensive wine glass gifts that I don't really use.  I didn't get rid of the actual kids, just the old mugs with their photos.  What do you think about wine in tumblers?
Oh, and I read the book on my Sprint HTC Evo Kindle app ... no book clutter.

4 comments:

simply brookes: said...

I am a big fan of no clutter. Love the concept. Which makes things like ebay and craigs list our friends. Declutter = a little mad money, perhaps.

Great post, H. Keep it up!

elizabeth@themustardceiling said...

Thanks for sharing, I will have to check it out. I love the idea of decluttering, starting is another story. I think I need a pep talk before tackling each room :).

mary said...

I just purchased this book on my kindle. (see I decluttered all the stray books in our home)

Looking forward to reading it.

H Young said...

sounds like my kind of book! Clutter = cringe. I think my nomadic lifestyle of a navy brat allows me to remain "unattached" to most items in my house. It's blissful!

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