For those of us that have been out of school a along time, the title line reads: Simple Life (> greater than) Material Life. I've said it before but it bears repeating, living a simple life does not mean you are forced into an austere lifestyle with little to no luxuries or comforts; it means you pare away the things around you that drain your energy while generating no joy or pleasure in your life. Anything that takes up space and energy without functioning in your day-to-day world or putting a smile on your face and a song in your heart is excess. That's the stuff you purge, not that which fills your life richly.
For the entire 8 1/2 years we have lived in this place, we have groaned about not having enough storage. We do not have a garage, so no extra storage to be had there. We basically have been reduced to two closets, a partial closet and the 5' X 5' area in the master bath taken up with a huge corner tub no one uses. It takes too much water to fill and I'm tired of the bath before that happens anyway! I use it for storage...how sad. Oh, there is that leaky old storage building in the back yard but you can't put anything you really want to keep out there....nature has claimed squatter's rights. So, as you can see, storage is a real issue for us.
Then it hit me, if we need to 'store' something are we really using it? I know Christmas decorations need somewhere to go but how many of us have boxes of 'stuff', drawers that can't hold another rubber band or closets we stand in front of dreading to open the door? Case in point....we have three junk drawers in the kitchen....why? Because we obviously have too much junk! I have a fair idea what is contained within each drawer but three?? Really?? The name alone, JUNK DRAWER, should be an indicator of how important that stuff is...or isn't, as the case may be. I cannot think of one thing in either of those three drawers that make me smile. Oh, the array of miscellaneous screws and nuts has come in handy from time to time but they do not need to live in the kitchen. I do use rubber bands when I'm harvesting herbs but I don't need three drawers for those. I had a large box of artificial flowers taking up space in the master closet. To say it was the only closet big enough to hold the box should have been an indicator of how much space was being sucked up by artificial flowers I did not use! I tossed it a few years ago but it makes my point. We tend to hang on to things that suck energy and space from our lives and offer nothing in return, no joy, no song in the heart...
On my desk sits a beautiful cobalt blue goblet my Honey bought one anniversary several years ago. I love the dark blue goblets and they do make me smile. I use one everyday from which to drink water. I am NOT a good water drinker. I do not get thirsty often so I do not think about it. I know I need to drink water so I started using the blue goblets as my official water glass. Our other glasses are clear glass and when filled with clear water....nothing to grab my attention. The cobalt blue, however, catches my eye, I smile, I drink.
Our home is bathed in color, it's everywhere because color, to me, is life. My heart is happy when surrounded with color. Even in our colorful home, stuff can distract and overwhelm to the point of not being able to appreciate the colors I love so much in the first place. I think each of need a space to call our own, a refuge to which we shut the door to the world and find comfort, solace and peace. This place should be our homes! As the slow process of eliminating, paring down and carving out a home of harmony and peace evolves, we get one step closer with each purposed decision to get rid of the things we do not love or use enough to take up space or energy in our soon to be oasis of tranquility. Each load to Goodwill or an item donated to someone that actually needs it is a step toward a simple life filled with only the truly functional and loved items with which we choose to share our space. I'm going to hold myself accountable to not allowing anything less to enter in our sanctuary. I'll toast to that...with my lovely blue goblet and a smile on my face!
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