Lightening my Life!

We are in the process of moving. That means showing our house to prospective buyers and our realtor asked us to de-personalize it. No pictures, no clutter, no junk, etc. It was an unbelievable process - a lot of work. We sold things on Craigs List, made trips to Goodwill, and filled our garbage can many times as well as visited the recycle center. And it looks good and there is no clutter.  As much as this is very stressful, I noticed that when we decluttered, I relaxed a bit. That led me to wonder two things. Why did I pack so much stuff that I don't/perhaps won't ever use in boxes to store and move with us. Why do we live cluttered lives that seem to add stress to our every day living?

I am on a journey to delve into this question a bit. For me there are some simple reasons that first come to mind. I don't like to waste things. I used to get so angry at my husband when he would get a gift of clothing that he would not wear. A couple years later he would donate it to Goodwill. My anger came in that if he didn't like it he shouldn't keep it. He didn't want to hurt the person's feelings that gave it to him. I told him he had to return items right away if they wouldn't get used. He's gotten better - but we still have and get things we don't really need and the same thing happens.

I want to ask myself for every purchase - do I need this? I mean really need this. If I don't - there is no purchase. I just don't need more stuff. Stuff is what we move around. We dust. Stuff adds stress. Like magazine subscriptions for me. I don't take time to read- it isn't a priority. And if I need something I can go online. So I am letting all my subscriptions expire. Then I will add back ones I really miss. I found it was paying to recycle when I wasn't taking the time to read them.

And then there are clothes - if I need something, I need to get rid of something. I've found I don't really need any clothes - of course though we always want more!  And I am going back to buying more classic - better quality. I still wear those things from long ago that are timeless. And I seem to wear the same things all the time - so why is there so much in my closet?

It's a journey - but one I am excited about. When I unpack the boxes, I am going to to really go through each item. If I haven't used it in the last year - I need to release it to someone else that may need it or use it. It's time and such a great feeling. I need to gift it or give it. But I don't need to dust it, find a place for it, keep it if I won't be using it!

It's the year of free-ing!!!! Cant' wait to continue to lighten up my life!