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what are your things saying to you?

declutter
Ummm...what?  Seriously, what messages are your things sending you on a daily basis?  Is it "Clean me, you lazy bum!" or "You have such good taste--I'm here to make you happy!" or "I know you don't like me much, but I belonged to your great aunt Alice so you're stuck with me for life!"

And when you walk into your closet, do you hear "Put me on, daahling, and you'll look faaabulous!" or "Don't even think about--I can't believe how much weight you've put on, you pathetic pandemic porker!"  (I know, pretty harsh, but admit it, sometimes we're not very nice to ourselves.)

Our homes should be places of refuge and serenity for us--a calm, peaceful place where we can relax, especially when we are working from home and staying at home more than ever now.  If the things in your house are adding to your stress because you have to take care of them, or making you feel bad about yourself because they point out your faults and weaknesses, then maybe it's time to show them the door.

You can go the route of Marie Kondo and hold each item to see if it sparks joy in your heart, or you can simply look around your house and listen to the message you feel as you consider the items surrounding you.

I find two areas of my house are especially tough: the kitchen and the closet.

The kitchen

The kitchen is tough because my cupboards are full of items that I may only use once a year or that were wedding gifts, or hold other sentimental meaning.  There are also cake pans and cookie cutters that haven't been used in years, but hang around just in case the occasion arises for a custom-made, decorated cake (it doesn't). The message I get from these things is "You might need me when you have the party of the century--but you're really not that great at entertaining," or "If you were a better mom you would spend more time teaching your kids to bake," or "You'd better not get rid of me--you might want to give me to your daughters when they move out of the house--whether they want me or not!"

I realize we haven't been entertaining much in the past year and a half, but take a look through your cupboards.  If you know you haven't used an item in the last couple of years and you're not excited to use it the next time you have friends over, then why are you holding on to it?  Maybe it's time to say buh-bye.  And if you have sentimental glassware (um...pint glasses from every brewery in the Western states) then by all means start using it.  It's not sharing its happy memories shoved in the back of your cupboard.

The closet (duh, duh, dum!)

Moving on to your closet--whew, this one's really tough, and can be really emotional. Start by picking out all the clothes that speak to you kindly and lovingly right now.  These are the clothes that fit you today and that you feel good about wearing, not the ones that you loved in the past and you keep hoping you will lose enough weight to wear again soon.  Put those clothes on your bed and if you want to Marie Kondo it, thank them for making you feel fabulous and serving you well.  

Now move back into the closet.  If there are clothes in there that you absolutely love and could possible fit into again someday, then by all means keep them.  Just keep them somewhere else so they are not sending you nasty messages about yourself on a daily basis.  When you lose weight it will feel great to get that box out from under the bed and welcome those clothes back into the closet.

Finally, the clothes that are left are probably clothes that don't fit and don't make you feel good.  Why are you allowing them to take up precious space in your closet, sending you subconscious messages?  Donate or sell them and enjoy the serenity of a closet that makes you happy.

If you want to read more, check out the book Goodbye, Things, the New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki, or watch The Minimal Mom on YouTube.  And of course, if you haven't read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo you really need to stop what you are doing and find a copy right now.  The book literally changed my life and lead to the biggest garage sale ever (and two carloads to Goodwill.)

Now go have a conversation with your kitchen cupboards...

Virtual hugs,

Jen


If you'd like to talk to me more about creating a wellness and nutrition plan that works for you, I've got you!  I'm a certified Nutrition Coach who will create a simple, customized meal plan for you and coach you through how to implement it into your busy life.  We also talk about all the pitfalls that make it hard, and help you make it the anchor that keeps you healthy, energized, and sane through the whirlwind of your everyday life.

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