Adventures In To Minimalism

What’s your house look like these days? Still have one of those spare bedroom closets you haven’t looked in for a more than a few months? Or, maybe you have dresser drawers you have totally abandoned because they are so full you can’t open them any more. Or (horrors) do you have a room that is so full of stuff you just have a little path through it that only someone half your size can squeak through sideways?

I hate to admit it but my house has gotten out of control. It started a few years ago when my husband’s sister passed away at the very young age of 38. In the process of clearing up her estate, some of her stuff ended up at our house. Then my husband’s mother went into a nursing home and some of her stuff ended up at our house.

Then my mother went into a nursing home and–guess what?

Right.

Don’t get me wrong. We did get rid of most of the stuff. There are just some things you feel you need to keep. You know. Christmas decorations, hand made furniture, paintings, quilts, books, Dad’s army jacket, momentos from the grandparents and the great grandparents, etc, etc, etc.

On top of all the stuff of our relatives, we have our own stuff. Both of us are musicians, we are both artists, we read voraciously and collect books, we ride bikes and play numerous sports, and we are both sentimental.

Yes, I know this is getting personal. Some times to get to the point, it’s necessary to shed a bit of light on the subject.

We finally have arrived at the point of desiring to downsize, to declutter, to minimize. This process has become an adventure. I am never quite sure what I will find when I dig to the bottom of a closet or wade through the storage room that contains my parents’ belongings. There are some interesting finds and quite a few tears with each effort I make. I can only do the sorting in mini bursts because of the tedium and the emotions.

But, it’s alright. I have taken on this adventure and broken it in to manageable chunks of mini forays into the world of junk gone wild. Target for the ‘return home’ is May.

Well yes.

2013, of course.

In site is the end of minimal adventures and the doors and drawers to living a downsized life will be flung wide open. I can’t wait to walk through those doors and open those drawers.

I have some stuff I need to put away.