Decluttering
Clutter can feel chaotic, whereas when my house is clean and clear, it feels peaceful and at ease.
Now that we know what is important to us (refer to the Values exercise in a previous post here), we can start to think about aligning our physical environment with these.
Every so often, I will go round a room and consider what brings me joy (Marie Kondo’s methodology) and then start putting things aside that I can let go of. I try and be mindful about how I let the things go… using Gumtree, or eBay to sell things on… or make donations to local charity shop. Last year I put a whole lot of stuff to the charity shop. It was crockery and glasses that had been wedding gifts. I’m 10 years separated from my husband, and the stale energy associated with these items wasn’t serving me!
Most items that I have out on display are things that have meaning or a story behind them. I have a lot of antiques and ornaments that were my late mums, and a few pieces from my gran that I was gifted when she moved into a care home.
Decluttering your whole house may seem like a daunting task. But take it slow, and break down the task into manageable chunks. Even a room might feel overwhelming, so you can break that down into drawers or cupboards. Treat yourself with compassion as you work through the decluttering; it can be difficult to make decisions and let things go.
Decluttering clothing can be trickier; and I found that letting go of expensive items for pennies on eBay was tough initially. But the items didn’t fit me, realistically I wasn’t going to fit into them again… and they were taking up physical and mental space.
Over time I’ve moved towards a more capsule wardrobe. I did Project 333 a number of years ago - you live with 33 pieces of clothing for 3 months. It was a really interesting challenge to participate in, and made me really think about my wardrobe.
Another thing I’ve been doing recently is making use of all my things - not saving things for best - whether that be ‘the good crockery’, or a special dress or item of clothing.
Perhaps, like me, there's something you've been holding onto, that you'd like freedom from?
