Turning over a new leaf
The new year will often spark resolutions and good intentions.
People commit to ‘turning over a new leaf’, cleansing their bodies (from processed food) and their homes (from clutter). You might be embarking on some early ‘Spring cleaning’ now. We did ours on N.Y.E, clearing the dust away from 2020.
Around now many people will be donating unwanted gifts received over Christmas and clearing out cupboards.
But how do you de-clutter your life? And what does that look like?
Over the years so many people have asked us about our SLOW life. Not quite understanding, they take it quite literally, and see it as simply ‘dropping out’ and doing nothing.
It’s not that simple.
Living in a minimalist way has taken years to achieve. And it’s quite the opposite of sitting still and doing nothing. It has required dynamic action and an active thinking process about how to live. Life becomes more intentional and often more demanding.
Trying to live in a minimalist way has underpinned much of life for several years and has led us to this point. At so many junctions, we have found ourselves considering a purchase, and asking each other, “do we really need it?”
One of the first conclusions to reach was about money. ‘How much do you really need?’ We knew that we did not want to spend the rest of our lives ‘chasing the money’. For what? Our conclusion was, we simply need enough income to be comfortable.
At almost every turn we have found ourselves rejecting so much of what society tries to impose. We don’t want a big home full of luxury items or fancy finishes. We don’t need lots of gadgets or technology.
We chose instead to buy second hand furniture, mostly skilfully carved Indonesian teak pieces which moved with us nearly three years ago. We stopped buying new clothes a long time ago. We have enough. There’s no need to buy more, just because it’s ‘on sale’, and of course it’s not a bargain if you don’t actually need it.
We all choose the life we live. Some will re-model, replace and update in their homes. We prefer to re-use, repair and up-cycle. The more we have changed our lives, the more disposable income we have had for our one indulgence; travel. And even that has changed in recent years, with more focus on domestic travel.
The less stuff we have had, the more we have been reminded of what we truly value; time with each other, time with people who matter, great food and good conversation.
Living differently has changed our life.
We spent some of the morning walking; picking up pine cones and finding firewood in the forest. Why would we ever buy wood?! Part of a slow, simple life is using what’s around you. Foraging. Creating.
How we live our life is a very personal choice. Some will spend their lives consuming because it’s easier and they haven’t stopped to identify an alternative way to be. Of course the businesses prefer us not to think about it all. Just buy!
And decluttering doesn’t stop at stuff. Just as certain items in our homes no longer serve us well, the same can be said of some people.
De-cluttering also means letting go of people; those who criticise you, those who are jealous, ones who are not interested in your life but want you to be interested in theirs, those who take, often relentlessly, and those who always think about themselves.
For us, a slow, simple, minimalist life works. Brilliantly. We cannot imagine ever getting back on the treadmill to be able to fund pointless purchases. We have all that we need.
Time in lockdowns, quarantine and self isolation has got most of us thinking about about who and what is actually important in our lives. So it should be easy to answer this question
How little do you actually need?
© Maggie M /Mother City Time
WOW Maggie. Another great piece.
What a refresshing view on life. I have done much decluttering over ghe past few years. Both phyiscally and mentally and it really can be very cathartic which ever way you do it.
The physical declutter has been borne from both necessity (moving home from a 3 bed semi to a 1 bed flat) and also a great desire to leave the past behind. We often accumulate physical items as a way of remembering/memorialising and it can become unhealthy.
The mental declutter was a much harder task and is an on going one to aid mental health and can be truely liberating (if done for the right reasons and with great care)
I love and greatly admire your obvious passion for the life you have both chosen and your obvious love for what you have and continue to acheive in both your exploration of the world and yourselves.
Much love to you my friend and bever stop being you. Xx
Hi Colleen,
Thanks so much for your comment and for your encouragement.
It’s great to hear that you too have been re-organising things in your life in recent years. De-cluttering becomes necessary with down-sizing. For us it was a necessity with each international move. We’ve found that a less chaotic physical space usually means you feel all round better in your life. At some point most of us stop to take stock of our lives and think about what we really want to do. We didn’t want to wait till 60 or 65 to work that out. Living differently has afforded us great freedom sooner.
I look forward to catching up in person sometime soon Colleen. It’s been too long, my friend.
Stay well, stay happy and have a great year.
Sending love.
As a household that hasn’t done ‘stuff’ for a long time I think lockdown ‘decluttering’ for me has been about relationships. I have been surprised by those that have fallen away and equally by those that have been re-invigorated through this trying time. When the day to day falls away it is interesting what true connections remain. I feel very lucky to have such connections and have appreciated having the time and space to build on these (fewer) connections even though some are far flung. As far as new year’s resolutions go I think mine will be different this year – I am trying to put the ‘should’ do’s and the ‘must’ do’s to the bottom of the list and replace with the ‘can’t wait’ to’s and have always wanted to’s! Here’s to the ups and downs of 2021 – be kind to yourselves and those around you!
That is EXACTLY the question that I’m working on answering! Thanks for being an inspiration of the slow, minimalist, sustainable, low-waste life of purpose. I dearly love traveling the country and the world, spending time with family and friends (old and new)… and trying to make the world a better place.
Thank you for the lovely post!
Hi Ceri. The decluttering of relationships is particularly tough. I have learned that sometimes you find yourself re-evaluating a friendship and left wondering what that person brings to you. None of us want toxic people in our lives, who drain our energy and simply take from us. Sometimes you have to cut those people free. Similarly I am very thankful to have so many good people in my life, who reached out so much during a difficult year. The single biggest challenge for me in 2020 was losing my father. I was surprised and heartened by the efforts of people to reach out to me and offer support. By contrast there were others who did nothing and said nothing. Cruel and uncaring. Those people are swept away now, along with the dust from last year. I am pleased that we are in good contact, Ceri and count ours as one of those far flung friendships. We look forward to welcoming you later in the year, ‘putting the world to rights’ over lots of wine and re-connecting in person. As someone who doesn’t make ‘to do’ lists, I wholeheartedly applaud your idea to have a ‘can’t wait’ to’ and ‘have always wanted to’ list instead. That sounds like a route to happier times. Hope it will be a great year ahead, Ceri. Wishing you health, happiness and lots of future trips to the theatre.
Hi Dara. Your de-cluttering efforts are very impressive. We are watching with interest. Thanks for your kind words. If we’ve inspired you in any way, that is a bonus. For us we have just wanted to live life on our own terms. We knew that following the the usual ‘get a job, get a house, get a bigger house, work till you’re 60, then enjoy your retirement’ model was not for us. We’ve worked hard to build a different life. Now it’s time to enjoy it!
I hope that the year ahead will be full of the things that you love; more travelling, more time with special people and plenty of those delicious English treats that you enjoy! So glad that you enjoyed the post. Keep enjoying Mother City Time.
Definitely! I admire your choice to follow your own path. May we both enjoy following each other’s journeys and take inspiration from it! And hopefully one day we might enjoy some English treats together in person!
Always follow your own path! When we got married, my husband chose Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’ for a reading;
‘I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I did not know then, 13 years ago, what an appropriate poem that was for our journey.
I will keep following your journey too…And we will meet my friend!