“You’re gettin’ tired of starin’ at the same four walls” – Glen Frey
This is post #6 in my quest for 30 in 30.
Clutter clutter everywhere and not a space to think
When I was developing my personal standards of living one of the first areas I thought about was my physical surroundings. I needed to establish what was going to be acceptable in my space and what wasn’t. For a long time I had been wanting to eliminate all of the junk in my life but had been putting it off, probably because of the work it was going to take to make it happen. Clutter had invaded my life on all levels like the ninja that it is and it was hard to know where to start when trying to fix the situation. I was, as they say, up to my balls in jugglers but setting my standards was what gave me a clear starting point. In establishing what I wanted my surroundings to be and fully committing myself to that vision, I was quickly able to look at my space objectively and see what didn’t fit. Here is what I adopted as the set of standards for my physical surroundings:
“I live in a clean minimalist environment. I do not accept clutter or disarray of my living space. Anything brought into my space must be of significant purpose and function. There is no room for poor design, inoperable objects, poorly functioning items or clutter of any kind. I am constantly purging in order to rid myself of things that hold no purpose in my world. I surround myself with beauty and functionality which improves my life and inspires my creativity”
Keep in mind that at the time I didn’t yet live in a clean minimalist environment. When writing your standards however, it is always best to write them as if you’re already where you want to be, even if you’re still working on it.
So for me, my standards made it easy to see my best course of action. I knew that if an item didn’t work well , didn’t work at all or had no actual purpose or use, it was out. This automatically weeded out most of what I didn’t need. The stacks of old magazines, out. The lamp that I’d been meaning to re-wire, gone. The basement full of things I never used, purged. Anything that was left had to pass the beauty and functionality test. I’m a huge sucker for modern design so when I took another look around I started eliminating the things that didn’t have enough style to fit in my ideal space.
Ahh, sweet liberty.
Once I started to clear things out my space it felt a little empty. Ok, it was empty. Before long though, I realized that I didn’t really miss the things that were gone. Possessions are not what make us who we are so their absence really has no bearing on our lives. I can tell you that it’s really liberating when you start to get rid of all the things that have been weighing you down for so long. When you see all of the space that you’ve acquired physically and mentally you start to have a clearer vision of what is important in your life. When everything that doesn’t meet your standards is eliminated it opens up a world of new possibilities.
From that point forward all that I had to do was make sure that any new item that I brought into my space fit in with my standards. Knowing what I did and didn’t want made my life much easier. Now if it doesn’t look the way I want it to or do the things I need it to, it has no place in my place. The clutter ninjas are a crafty bunch and they are always trying to find new ways to mount a sneak attack (usually via the inside of an envelope) but now that I can see them so clearly they are often and easily thwarted.
There are lots of resources online for eliminating clutter. If you like things clean and simple like I do may I recommend the following:
- mnmlist.com: A great site run by Leo Baubata of Zen Habits.
- simple.organized.life: The name says it all.
- moreminimal.com: All about seeking the essential.
Thanks for being here. Talk to you tomorrow.
-JB
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Today’s Music: You Belong to the City
by: Glen Frey
NOT, surprisingly enough, available on iTunes.