Minimalism for Moms
"Eliminate, instead of organize"
I first read about minimalism on Pinterest and right away I felt connected to its message. There are a lot of benefits to living this lifestyle. I especially connected with the decluttering aspect and how if you have less, you have less to worry about. The documentary on this topic by the minimalists on Netflix, cemented it more for me and explained it in a way that now my husband also understood. Some benefits that I have seen:
-Now I own less, so I have less to clean and more time for me and my daughter.
-I genuinely believe it has reduced my levels of anxiety. There is something therapeutic about getting rid of clutter in your life. Its like a weight is lifted of your shoulder. I have less to worry about since I'm not thinking about what to clean next!
-I am also way more conscious of what I'm buying and bringing back into the house. Im not decluttering so I can fill up the space again. So I'm thinking to myself at stores... do I really need this?
Now this lifestyle is a work in progress. I tackle things room by room and in phases. And I have been working on this for about 6 months. I will utilize my daughters room as an example.
It is the hardest room since it holds a lot of items with emotional significance, so things are hard to throw away. I started with her clothes and eliminated everything that didn't fit (donated it), then a month later I went through her clothes again and found more stuff that did not fit or she just won't use like all her halloween costumes.
A few months ago we tackled her toys and got rid of an entire toy chests worth of them. I then reorganized her closet shelves and that opened up some space. Then, last night, I got rid of her play kitchen that she never used. We got rid of even more toys she still hasn't used. Our daughter is part of the process and she has embraced it, she understands that these toys are being donated to children that need them. We also don't force her to get rid of toys she really wants. Overtime she is gotten better and better with the process; I am very proud of her.
I added a picture of her room from last night, we got more work to do but I am proud of the progress we have made. I wish we had a before picture from months ago... maybe I will dig one up. Now if I can only get other people to stop buying her toys but thats a topic for another day.
I highly encourage a lot of moms out there to research minimalism and see if there are things that resonate with them. I have a "Minimalist Lifestyle" board in Pinterest you guys are welcome to look at and find some resources on this. I assure you, you will find something you like.
