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| Nope, still awesome. |
Happy Sunday, or whatever day you read this on! It's Day 13 of the So Damn Domestic Clutter Free Countdown, so today I decluttered 18 items. Emily's prompt for the day is to visualize the end result of decluttering, so you can easily tell when something doesn't fit your vision. I love this prompt.
I have a feeling my Pinterest boards are filled with images that no longer resonate with me. In this last year, my values have changed.
If you've followed my decluttering this past week, you know just in the last few days I've changed. I went from someone who coveted a large, personal home library, to someone who sees more benefit to using free resources. I just got my library card last month. (I had one in Washington, but I put off getting my Los Angeles County Library Card for almost a year after moving.) I've already become familiar with some of the librarians, if not by name, at least by face. That sense of community is part of what I'm building right now by minimizing my belongings.
Is it laughable that now I'm thinking about decluttering my Pinterest boards? I'm enjoying that image. It's a chore for the Age of Information! The promise when we make those boards is that we're going to revisit them for inspiration, so logically, having cluttered Pinterest boards is like having a closet full of clothes you don't wear. They're not being used for their intended purpose. They're just taking up space.
At least my Weekday Gourmet board is always current! Gotta love Pinterest for collecting recipes. Mmm.
One thing I've figured out is that visualizing can be difficult when there's too many options. In my
life right now, I don't know if I'll be able to afford my apartment much longer. I might need to move in with a roommate or move to a less expensive city. When I visualize what I want, it's to stay here and keep building towards my goals here, and I'm mostly working toward that vision. At the same time, I wonder if it's worth it to hang up a picture if I'm going to have to take it down soon.
That uncertainty is why I'm focused on minimalism and flexibility. My security in the near future will not come from having my kitchen perfectly organized, but from having fewer kitchen tools, so it's easier and less expensive to move. If I manage to keep this apartment, I know I will still reap the benefits of simple living.
On that note, I don't want it to feel like a loss if I move. I want to feel excited for the new experiences wherever I go. I feel very attached to some of my furniture. I so carefully selected it and took on the cost and effort to move it here with me, but it's still just stuff. Besides, the pieces I'm thinking of now, my bookcase and entertainment storage console, they were Craigslist finds. If it brings me joy to find beautiful, practical, inexpensive furniture online, it shouldn't upset me to think of getting rid of anything.
Someone else will get to experience gratitude for these items. Then someday maybe I'll go through the process again, and the new pieces will be even more appropriate for my life at that time.
I'm preparing myself to get rid of one piece of furniture, maybe for my last day, that one special item. We'll see. To get to that place, I'll have to clear out a lot more items first!
Day 13: Declutter 18 Items
Real Simple Magazines.
If you've followed my decluttering this past week, you know just in the last few days I've changed. I went from someone who coveted a large, personal home library, to someone who sees more benefit to using free resources. I just got my library card last month. (I had one in Washington, but I put off getting my Los Angeles County Library Card for almost a year after moving.) I've already become familiar with some of the librarians, if not by name, at least by face. That sense of community is part of what I'm building right now by minimizing my belongings.
Is it laughable that now I'm thinking about decluttering my Pinterest boards? I'm enjoying that image. It's a chore for the Age of Information! The promise when we make those boards is that we're going to revisit them for inspiration, so logically, having cluttered Pinterest boards is like having a closet full of clothes you don't wear. They're not being used for their intended purpose. They're just taking up space.
At least my Weekday Gourmet board is always current! Gotta love Pinterest for collecting recipes. Mmm.
One thing I've figured out is that visualizing can be difficult when there's too many options. In my
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| This board's still awesome, too. I was right that there's a bunch of personal libraries in there, though, and other unnecessary attachment, like big kitchens. |
That uncertainty is why I'm focused on minimalism and flexibility. My security in the near future will not come from having my kitchen perfectly organized, but from having fewer kitchen tools, so it's easier and less expensive to move. If I manage to keep this apartment, I know I will still reap the benefits of simple living.
On that note, I don't want it to feel like a loss if I move. I want to feel excited for the new experiences wherever I go. I feel very attached to some of my furniture. I so carefully selected it and took on the cost and effort to move it here with me, but it's still just stuff. Besides, the pieces I'm thinking of now, my bookcase and entertainment storage console, they were Craigslist finds. If it brings me joy to find beautiful, practical, inexpensive furniture online, it shouldn't upset me to think of getting rid of anything.
Someone else will get to experience gratitude for these items. Then someday maybe I'll go through the process again, and the new pieces will be even more appropriate for my life at that time.
I'm preparing myself to get rid of one piece of furniture, maybe for my last day, that one special item. We'll see. To get to that place, I'll have to clear out a lot more items first!
Day 13: Declutter 18 Items
Real Simple Magazines.
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| The weather's cooled down a bit, so they cats are back to following me around the apartment. |
HGTV Magazines.
Vegetarian Times Magazines.
My original plan was to read one magazine each night and declutter it as one item toward my goal the next day. It only worked once. My reading mojo has gone towards books for book club. I do still want to read these magazines before getting rid of them to get my money's worth (or my dad's Coke rewards' worth, in the case of Real Simple :)). At this point, I'm committing to getting rid of them by the end of the first week of October, read or not.
I'm dedicating that week to selling or donating all the items I collect in this countdown, so it's a reasonable deadline for recycling magazines as well.
Vegetarian Times Magazines.
My original plan was to read one magazine each night and declutter it as one item toward my goal the next day. It only worked once. My reading mojo has gone towards books for book club. I do still want to read these magazines before getting rid of them to get my money's worth (or my dad's Coke rewards' worth, in the case of Real Simple :)). At this point, I'm committing to getting rid of them by the end of the first week of October, read or not.
I'm dedicating that week to selling or donating all the items I collect in this countdown, so it's a reasonable deadline for recycling magazines as well.
No more magazines will come into the house from now on. If I really want to read an issue, I'm going digital!
Amazon Affiliate: All Amazon links in this post go to digital magazine subscriptions to save trees and shelf space. Magazine search.
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