Contentment is not the American way. We are always looking for bigger, better, faster. We’re so busy chasing the two birds in the bush that we never bother to notice that we’re killing the one in our hands.
I’ve taken Kathi Lipp’s challenge to be clutter free in 2015.
Our constant quest for more leads to an accumulation of stuff, and as the stuff becomes clutter, we start to feel the walls closing in on us. I used to think our house was too small. But after reading “Clutter Free” by Kathi Lipp, I realize the problem isn’t the house. The problem is our lack of contentment.
The power of clearing the clutter is that it will give us room to breathe. I think we can love our home if we aren’t drowning in stuff. I used to think we had an organization issue, but what “Clutter Free” has taught me is clutter can’t be organized. It has to be minimized. Organization only comes into the picture once everything in your home is something that has earned the right to be there.
How do you figure that out? Kathi offers three simple questions to determine the value of something in your home:
- Do you love it?
- Do you use it?
- Would you buy it again?
If the answer is to no to any of the above, then out it goes. Sell, trash, donate – it doesn’t matter so long as it’s gone. It sounds simple, and it is. I think one of the problems those of us who battle clutter share is that we overthink things. I call it paralysis of analysis. Remember these questions keeps me focused. It’s what helps me to toss out the stinky dollar store candle from a holiday gift exchange two years ago, and the expensive perfume that puts my husband’s allergies into overdrive. Yes. Both are in like-new condition, but they have not earned the right to be in my home. We don’t love them, we don’t use them and we wouldn’t buy them again. Out they go.
This is the third in a four-part series on learning to love my living space utilizing strategies and concepts from Kathi Lipp’s “Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space” (Harvest House 2015). Want to join me? Text FINALLY to 33444 and sign up for Kathi’s Clutter Free emails to get free resources to start your journey.