June 2008

In the last year, Brenton and I have moved twice.  We were in a 2 bedroom apartment (with a garaged), and we decided to downsize to a 1 bedroom, 300 sq ft. hobbit hole.  The decision came after realizing that we were spending about $300 for the luxury of having a bedroom and a garage used for junk storage.

During the move, we donated about a third of the stuff we owned.  From what was left, about 1/3 went into storage because it was loved, but not stuff we needed daily.  Of the stuff that we moved into our new little home, amazingly, we continued to declutter.  We had a box to donate about once a month.

That living situation lasted 8 months, and we found out that we are expecting our first baby.  The time had come for us to move back up to that 2 bedroom apartment.  After we emptied the small apartment, the house was full.  We had tripled our space, and the house was full before we even emptied the storage unit!

We settled in to the house by unpacking the necessities:  Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom.  Everything else stayed in boxes and got put into the spare bedroom.  I closed the door behind me and didn’t look back in for a month.  With just the necessities unpacked, my house has never stayed clean so…effortlessly!  I found myself dreading unpacking the spare room for fear of creating an explosion of chaos once again.

During that month, I slowly came to an incredible realization.  I feel just so unAmerican saying it.  I am so much more satisfied with my life–content–when I have less stuff to maintain and care for.  Could the advertisers be wrong?  Have I been sold a lie all of my life?

In my minimalist house, I found that:

• The house stayed clean with little effort
• I felt relaxed and at home
• Home wasn’t a place to avoid, rather it embraced me and inspired me to create
• Peace ruled this place
• There was “no place like home.”

Less stuff equals more satisfaction.  I don’t think it’s just about less maintenance though.  I think that ultimately, stuff can never make us happy.  More stuff leads to craving even more stuff still, and those cravings push out space for the things that are really important in life.

I took that time to plant a vegetable garden and go to the farmers market on the weekends, and slowly begin to redefine my life.  I’ve opened the door on the spare bedroom because I have a self-imposed deadline of August 27 (3 months before baby is due).  As I unpack, nothing comes out of there unless I can find a home for it.  We have dropped another box off for donations and posted a few things on freecycle.  We took two big boxes of books to the library as donations and even threw away some college textbooks.  I’ve started releasing projects that I don’t think I will ever really finish, and started thinking about which hobbies I really want to keep in this new life.

I feel like a tree going through pruning, so that my life can be more fruitful in this next season.  I feel like I am breathign fresh air again.

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