As regular readers know, my theme for 2021 is “less,” which is basically an extension of my 2020 “enough” theme.” Although I experienced big wins last year related to feeling good enough and showing increased compassion for myself, I didn’t make as much progress as I’d hoped with downsizing my possessions and streamlining the way I spend time and consume information. Selecting “less” as my focus for this year seemed like a good way to increase my emphasis on those areas while also improving other facets of my life experience.
Now that almost half of 2021 is behind us (can you believe it?!), I’ve increased the attention I’m directing toward my “less” theme. Specifically, I’m examining the various areas of excess that are getting in the way of my happiness, and I’m finding ways of addressing them. Last month, I shared about my ongoing struggle with information overload, including open browser tabs, email backlog, articles to read, videos to watch, and items that I’m considering buying. After gaining clarity on those issues and the shifts I needed to make, I got to work on implementing the changes I outlined. I checked in a few weeks later with an update on the progress I’d already made, and I’m continuing to take steps toward making information overload a thing of the past.
In today’s post, I explore physical clutter and how I plan to tackle my remaining issues in that arena. My tolerance for disarray in my surroundings continues to decline as I pare away more and more of what I don’t love and don’t use. Although my husband and I played “The Minimalism Game” in January and got rid of over 500 items, we still have too much stuff! There are a few areas I’d like to address within the next month or so to help pare things down: books, framed photos, knick-knacks, and artwork. I’ll delve into each of these topics below.
