Anybody else drowning in clutter?
Do you have a closet or a junk drawer (or five) that need purging?
Feel like you keep things for no real reason except you can’t part with them?
Several years ago, I embarked on a 10-day whole house purge using the book by Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-free Approach to Intentional Living as a guide. I wrote about my first experience with the purge in my book, but the super short story is: it completely transformed our relationship with “things.”
Now, some of the suggestions in the book (like what clothes you should keep in your closet) didn’t really resonate with me, but the process, the mindset that it inspired, absolutely did hit the mark. For ten days over the course of two weeks (minus weekends), I purged and deep cleaned every single room in our house.
It was exhausting. But with each room, not only were there mounting donate, sell and trash piles, but I began to see a cleaner slate, a less cluttered home and many more intentional spaces.
In fact, we’d been holding onto an empty armoire in our bedroom. For why? I have no idea. But, I sold it and we used the money to buy a chair and repurpose a small end table, then we moved our beloved church pew and fashioned a gallery wall full of marriage/wedding mementos. And, all of a sudden our master bedroom (the one many of us neglect) finally felt right. It felt prayerful. It felt intentional.
We spent less time picking up the house and more time doing things as a family. Isn’t that revelational? I tackled boxes packed with emotional baggage, cleaned my ovens, alphabetized my spices and sorted duplo blocks. And while it made for an easier cleaning schedule and less stuff, it also delivered a lighter heart and a renewed sense of family.
I just didn’t realize how much things were occupying valuable spaces within my heart.
Every January, I repeat the exercise. The purging doesn’t take nearly as long and throughout the year, we dive deeper into spaces that need more time. And at the end of the marathon, I feel a deep sense of peace and satisfaction. Maybe it’s because we bring in less throughout the year or maybe it’s because we’ve learned the joy of detachment.
Either way, it’s time worth spending. Effort worth making. I hope you’ll join me Jan. 4-15, 2021. Here’s the link to graphics to share on social media (use the hashtag #2021organizedsimplicity. If you’re on Instagram, I’ll be sharing more in posts, IG stories and IGTV. If not, I’ll be uploading videos to YouTube periodically with tips and encouragement.
Y’all ready?
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