Now that I can see all the progress that's been made inside my home and garage, I'm feeling new emotions. I love the openness and relaxed feeling that's becoming a physical sight but mentally I'm overwhelmed by the change. I want our lives to be easier and this to be a positive change. However, I can't help but feel a sense of emptiness, like we worked all this time for nothing because I gave so much of it away. I guess I understand how my husband felt a while ago about it. I also feel surrounded by bins and plastic. I don't want to live my life this way but I don't want to buy any furniture yet either. I don't want to regret any purchases. Ideally, I would love for all of our big furniture to serve multiple purposes to maximize space and usage.
I'm not done downsizing yet, but so far having clear sight to the things we need and love has helped enrich our lives. The things we need are the things we use all of the time and the things we love are getting more attention and appreciation. We have to take care of everything that we own, that's why they say 'your stuff owns you'! So, having less makes the work load smaller and allows more time for what we love and who we love. We can invest our lives in things that make us happy and to me that's a rich life to live.
This journey comes with so much insight and emotions. My life is constantly changing but I know change doesn't always have to be a bad thing. We grow, we learn and therefore we change.
Thanks for reading.
-Danika
Monday, February 23, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Defeat & Reaching A New Level
This is a back story of how a lot of the clutter came into our lives, the first steps we took to overcome it, finding a passion and what I'm doing now to continue moving in a positive direction.
In late 2013, I realized that I had a big shopping problem. All I wanted was a beautiful home but I didn't know what I wanted. Seasons were the only thing I knew to decorate for, but when one season ended so did my happiness about my home. It was like starting all over trying to find stuff that fit the new season. I would change things up all of the time; Each season was different. Different scents, different colors, a whole new look. I was buying different colored towels, pots and pans, new hand soaps, body washes, candles, bed sheets, pillows, table decor and more. It was crazy I tell you! Crazy!!! The best thing I could do at that point was to stop shopping and except that I didn't know what I wanted. Seasonal decor became more of a problem then anything else. I needed decor that could stay year round, but now was not the time or place for that.
The aftermath of seasonal shopping, along with a bunch of other unused clutter we had already, had taken a huge toll on me and started affecting my family as well. I was always busy cleaning, laundry was endless and the disaster just never ended. I felt defeated! Stuff was everwhere all the time but you'd never know it. Whenever we'd have guests coming over, we shoved everything into our bedroom or in our daughters room and shut the doors. We faked that our home was kept clean and beautiful. We faked that things were okay, like we had our lives together, when in fact they were not. Something had to change.
I remember reaching one of my first breaking points. I was done with all of this! My relationships were suffering and it was my fault. I took all of my decor down and packed it away along with everything else. Clutter was piled up everwhere! I needed it out of sight. It was causing so much tension, frustration and stress. It was mostly me who had caused this problem and at the time, I wouldn't even let my husband help me fix it. It was just like an episode of hoarders. I had to go through everything myself. I have never felt I was a hoarder. I had never been called one either; Except by my husband a few months ago because I still had two sets of pots and pans that I'd change through the seasons. I got rid of a set after reflecting on that.
Anyway, we bought as many bins as we could find in the stores near us. They had to be the same for a more uniform and clean look. Shortly after that time, we got our garage rental. We knew that we needed the stuff out of our living space. It was nice to have it out but the garage was an extra bill. No one wants that! As I have said before in a recent post, it wasn't easy going to the garage all of the time. I did often but it wasn't easy. Still, I needed to sort things and it wasn't going to get sorted on it's own.
Months past by before I was inspired to start a blog. It was a blog about something totally different before I realized my real passion and focus was on fixing this disaster I had created. I wanted to get back to my happy place, being simple and organized. So that's been my goal.
I research minimalism and simple living in my free time a lot now and it really helps take me to the next level. Everytime I let go of things, I feel that I learn something new. It feels like a mental process as much as it is a physical one. I'm finding it easier to let go of things that in my last great purge I wasn't ready to let go of. It's been a great learning process. This week I was really motivated and filled 10 bins of stuff to let go of. I'm so proud of myself. I can actually see a clearing of open space. I love it!
If you're struggling with clutter like I was, I strongly suggest letting go. Just try it and see how free you feel afterwards. It's truly rewarding!
Well wishes to you!
-Danika
In late 2013, I realized that I had a big shopping problem. All I wanted was a beautiful home but I didn't know what I wanted. Seasons were the only thing I knew to decorate for, but when one season ended so did my happiness about my home. It was like starting all over trying to find stuff that fit the new season. I would change things up all of the time; Each season was different. Different scents, different colors, a whole new look. I was buying different colored towels, pots and pans, new hand soaps, body washes, candles, bed sheets, pillows, table decor and more. It was crazy I tell you! Crazy!!! The best thing I could do at that point was to stop shopping and except that I didn't know what I wanted. Seasonal decor became more of a problem then anything else. I needed decor that could stay year round, but now was not the time or place for that.
The aftermath of seasonal shopping, along with a bunch of other unused clutter we had already, had taken a huge toll on me and started affecting my family as well. I was always busy cleaning, laundry was endless and the disaster just never ended. I felt defeated! Stuff was everwhere all the time but you'd never know it. Whenever we'd have guests coming over, we shoved everything into our bedroom or in our daughters room and shut the doors. We faked that our home was kept clean and beautiful. We faked that things were okay, like we had our lives together, when in fact they were not. Something had to change.
I remember reaching one of my first breaking points. I was done with all of this! My relationships were suffering and it was my fault. I took all of my decor down and packed it away along with everything else. Clutter was piled up everwhere! I needed it out of sight. It was causing so much tension, frustration and stress. It was mostly me who had caused this problem and at the time, I wouldn't even let my husband help me fix it. It was just like an episode of hoarders. I had to go through everything myself. I have never felt I was a hoarder. I had never been called one either; Except by my husband a few months ago because I still had two sets of pots and pans that I'd change through the seasons. I got rid of a set after reflecting on that.
Anyway, we bought as many bins as we could find in the stores near us. They had to be the same for a more uniform and clean look. Shortly after that time, we got our garage rental. We knew that we needed the stuff out of our living space. It was nice to have it out but the garage was an extra bill. No one wants that! As I have said before in a recent post, it wasn't easy going to the garage all of the time. I did often but it wasn't easy. Still, I needed to sort things and it wasn't going to get sorted on it's own.
Months past by before I was inspired to start a blog. It was a blog about something totally different before I realized my real passion and focus was on fixing this disaster I had created. I wanted to get back to my happy place, being simple and organized. So that's been my goal.
I research minimalism and simple living in my free time a lot now and it really helps take me to the next level. Everytime I let go of things, I feel that I learn something new. It feels like a mental process as much as it is a physical one. I'm finding it easier to let go of things that in my last great purge I wasn't ready to let go of. It's been a great learning process. This week I was really motivated and filled 10 bins of stuff to let go of. I'm so proud of myself. I can actually see a clearing of open space. I love it!
If you're struggling with clutter like I was, I strongly suggest letting go. Just try it and see how free you feel afterwards. It's truly rewarding!
Well wishes to you!
-Danika
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Downsizing!
After the sucessful garage sale this year, I was left still burdened by the abundance of stuff we still had in our garage rental that we hardly ever used. It was almost always cold outside, raining or dark when I felt the urge to purge and I wasn't a fan of any of those conditions, which made it difficult to get things done. As a result, I brought all 42 boxes inside. I wanted to be able to go through them but at the same time it was overwhelming having it all available all at once; Not to mention cluttering our space and being an eye sore. I probably have moved everything inside and back out at least twice before I decided to bring it all back in again. I knew if I wasn't around it then my chances of steady progress would be slim.
I had purchased 10 more bins making it 52! Those filled up fast I tell you. After getting that job 6 months prior, I was buying a lot of new things. While part of it was good, it probably wasn't the best idea while trying to downsize. I did learn from it though and I tried the "one in, one out" method. Although, that really should be a 'one in, three out' method.
Anyway, around Christmas time I was jolted with energy and determination. I was going to do something about these bins that were sitting around stressing me out. So here's what I did. I took one week and went through bin after bin asking myself these simple questions.
Is this something we use?
Is this something I love?
Is this adding value to my life?
If the answer was no, it was gone!
Still to this day, I struggle with giving to Thrift Stores before offering my stuff to my friends and family. I know that even though I don't want certain things, others do. I know some things are really nice too so I like to offer it first. I would hate for my family or friends to have to thrift and pay for things that I donated; It's a struggle.
As Christmas was approching, I had a great idea. I was going to hold a purging party! I called it "The Great Purge". I was trying to downsize and I thought it would be a great opportunity for others to downsize as well. They could bring their stuff (if they wanted), hang out and take a look through mine. Anything left over was going to be packed into a giant box that I had and taken to the thift store for donation the next day. Plus, there was going to be a dessert competition. The winner could steal one thing they really wanted that someone else got at the end. It was exciting.
I managed to fill 15 bins of stuff to get rid of. I then organized it all so my friends could go through the stuff easier.
Take a look!
&
Only one friend showed up the day of the party. She got first dibs on everything so I guess it was a win for her. She got a lot of nice stuff I had; Expensive stuff too. She brought some stuff over as well, so I got to pick through clothing for my daughter, and for others who were expecting kids soon. We enjoyed each other's desserts and It was a good time visiting.
The following day another friend of mine came by and checked out what was left. She got what she wanted and finally I was content. I could finally pack up the leftover stuff for donation; And that's what I did. I packed it all up and dropped it off at the thrift store. Except... It wasn't all of it! While packing, I kept a bin of things I felt someone else might still want. Now that it's been sitting around, I know not to do that again. It went nowhere.
Overall, downsizing that week felt amazing. I emptied a ton of bins and that put me one GIANT step closer to sucess for my family. Christmas that followed wasn't too terrible. We made a lot of progress with downsizing beforehand so the new things mostly were okay. To keep things under control, I keep a "Pass-It-On" bin to fill with unwanted, unused, and unloved things. I've filled 5 since then and for the sake of progress, I want to fill more.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter around you or find yourself always cleaning up when all you want to do is relax for once, I strongly recommend looking into downsizing. For most of us, our stuff owns us. It's time to turn this around and own it!
Until next time,
Danika
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