Am I done? That is, is my house minimalist and clutter-free?
Uh...no. LOL.
Then have I done any more decluttering?
Yes! I got a couple more trash bags out of the house. And though I never tried to persuade my husband to do what I was doing, he was inspired to go through his office closet and clear it by close to 50%. So that was 10 or so more bags.
Am I going to keep up my efforts?
At a reduced pace. I think our main clutter now is books and papers. So I'm going to spend the winter going slowly through those, with an emphasis on MY books that aren't of particular interest to anyone else in the house.
Do I really WANT minimalist and clutter-free?
I'm not so concerned about that. I wouldn't even want 24/7 clutter-freedom, because that would probably mean our family wasn't actually doing anything productive. Productivity with material things means temporary clutter, doesn't it?
What are my goals then?
- Less stuff, less visual distraction.
- Less time spent re-arranging and dealing with objects.
- Less relying on purchases
- Easier time finding things we really need.
- Easier time putting things away because everything has a place and a SPACE around them (that means avoiding complicated Tetris patterns of storage -- for folks with a tiny house and several kids, like we had once, Tetris-type storage may be necessary, but it's not when you have lots of closet space).
- More relying on personal resources and God rather than on THINGS so much.
I haven't actually started yet, but I'm going to start keeping track of what comes INTO the house as well as what goes out. I won't count food, firewood, or other consumable necessities. I'll just count THINGS that will either get used or not, but either way will set their footprint on our floor-space.
Today we got a snowblower, for example. It leaves a footprint on our garage. However, we also got Sears to take away our old rangetop which was in the garage, so we actually ended up with a minus, hooray!
Have there been any negatives about the effort and its results?
Not really! None of us has yet missed anything that left the house. My only issue is that the house still looks pretty full, so I still have a ways to go. Winter will give me time to go through bit by bit and figure out why.
Dear Willa,
ReplyDeleteI have been reading everyday for the past month, Fr Dubay's book "Happy are the poor" as I also attempt to declutter. I realized I was getting rid of stuff for the wrong reason. I was doing it for ME! I wanted a more tidy house. I want to be organized. I wanted to be free from the burden of this stuff. I, I, I ... And, these are ok reasons but not GOOD holy reasons.
As I read Fr. Dubay, he seems to be saying the reason for decluttering is so that we can share with the poor. This is the next step for me. I want to consciously pray for those who get my clutter. I want to walk past things in the store and drop money in a poor box instead. I want to spend more time thinking and praying for others and less time thinking about what else needs declutter.
Pray for me! I am no where near close to being the saint Fr. Dubay holds up.
Thanks for putting me onto this book- God Bless- Anne
That was what always got in my way in the past -- I was decluttering for me, and it would start feeling not-right.
ReplyDeleteI do think that our cravings to have a more peaceful, non-distracted life are in a way natural graces God gives us, showing us that there is something better out there for us.
I like your new blog by the way!