I am going to downsize. I am going to throw away all the garbage that we have moved from one home to the next. I am going to look at things more objectively and ask myself "How does this serve myself or my family? Do we really need or use this?". I know some might think a minimalist is extreme or just another wacky idea of mine. While the ladder might be so, a minimalist can vary drastically! Truth be told, I think it is really about a shift in thinking. Labeling our behavior or decisions can helps us be more responsible to the idea, and in that light...I am a minimalist!
I had to smile when I read my blog in November 2011, two years ago. I clearly have had this idea to blog about going through my things, and documenting the process. Funny thing is I haven't gotten to far since that last blog. Now, however, as a minimalist...I will! ;)
Nothing gets you moving with cleaning and organizing as quickly as the invasion of lice! My daughter was sent home early yesterday from school because of it. I was convinced that I must have it too, however, after hubby combed over everyone's heads, I do not! BUT...I did start the process of throwing away things we didn't need or use. I have to admit at times I was elated and pumped! Other times I would rationalize if I needed it or not. I might use it, or do something with it. But I knew. I needed to let it go. I needed to stop letting things clutter my life, I needed to clear the way to enjoy life fully.
Then I got to a hard spot. The real reason why I started this blog. I came across the beginning of a crocheted pattern my mom had started. Unfinished, just begun, still attached to the bundle of yarn. The memory rushed over me. I knew it was time to let this item go. It had not served me. I moved the crocheted pattern and yarn to the kitchen...to hide it...again. A moment later my daughter wanted to hang an ornament she had made on our Christmas tree. I told her I knew what to do. I went to the kitchen and looked at the yarn. My daughter said "no not that"...she had heard me say that before with this yarn...I took the scissors and cut it. The pattern can no longer be continued attached to that bundle of yarn. Now we can use the yarn. I told my daughter that Nammy would never want me to hold onto something like this, and she would want her grandbabies to use it! (And she would definitely want me to get clean and organized!:). I did it. Something small, and the beginning of so much more of this...but still...the beginning.
I end this blog tonight saying that I feel my mom immensely. Now and always. I know she is with me, and I know she is proud of me. Mom and Minimalist both start with an M...and so does mending. :)
