DAY 4 - STUFF I GOT RID OF

Wow, so Day 4 took longer than expected. I originally planned to continue to blog about my flirtation with minimalism then "life" happened I guess. So nearly a year later, I am returning to my original idea for a blog series. Over the last year I have attempted to clear the clutter (mental and physical). I have also attempted to adopt a simpler lifestyle with less stuff. Here is a photo collection of "stuff" I've gotten rid of during the summer of 2016. More posts will be forthcoming.

DAY 3 - GETTING RID OF CLUTTER (PHYSICAL AND MENTAL)

One of the beautiful things about growing up is you start to realize your own mortality. I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm by no means "old," but as someone in her late 30s, I no longer feel like I have the time or inclination to "just go through the motions." I started a purging project a few years ago. You can see more about my tidying project here on Pinterest. For the most part these rooms have not reverted to their former states. For one thing...one of the rooms unexpectedly became a nursery. That's a whole other story.

DAY 1 - Clearing Out the Mental Clutter

Well, my last 40 days of connection made it to day 25. Here's hoping I can do the full 40 days of connection in 2016! I was 15 days short and didn't finish. In other news I did manage to get my finances in better order this year, which was the point of 40 days of connection. I also managed to come up with a better dieting plan.

So this year's theme will be "being happier" and "living in the moment." I'm also working on the 52 list project and the happiness project. My goals this year are to enjoy the moment that I'm in completely. Sometimes when I'm talking to someone I start going through a checklist in my head on what I have to do while this person is talking. Instead of truly listening and enjoying their conversation I am focused on something else completely trivial. Sometimes if I'm in the middle of an activity I closely look at the clock to see how much longer I have. I want to get on to the next thing. No more of that. I want to live in the moment of their conversation, live in the moment of whatever I'm doing with my family, friends, or whomever I'm speaking with.

One of the suggestions in Gretchen Rubin's book is to remove the mental clutter, both figuratively and literally. Get rid of the old appliances and the clutter that takes up space in your home. Some of these items make you feel guilty. I just opened up a kitchen cabinet that had an unused Pampered Chef cookie press. I have no idea why I purchased a cookie press. I rarely bake and when I do I don't care what the cookies look like. Perhaps when I get older and have more time I will make gourmet cookies with a cookie press, but I simply do not have the storage space to keep things that I won't use for 10 or 15 years...if at all.

So in that same vein, I gave away (I don't see the point of selling this stuff), a toaster oven, an old treadmill I never use, a cookie press, and a George Foreman grill. Whew. I feel better already.