What kind of question is that, some of you may ask …
I get it. But…
Have you ever considered the possibility that you are a slave to your clutter, to all of your stuff?
Having so much stuff is exhausting.
It’s running you down.
It’s eating away all of your energy.
“Everything you own*, owns you”
As I wrote in my blog last week**, creating space, creating room to breathe, …. is your starting point to feeling refreshed, to feeling alive again.
And this ‘space’, this ‘room’, means a lot of things:
Space in your agenda**: making sure there is room to rest, to breathe, to enjoy what you are doing…
Space in your body** by getting rid of all the toxins.
And as I promised last week, we are going to tackle also:
Space in your house.
Space in your head.
Space in your house is an absolute must. And I don’t mean you have to empty your house completely, and only have one chair and one table left, unless that is what you feel like of course, but take an honest look at all there is in your house.
Is the floor free? Or do you have to slalom your way through your house. Energy needs to be able to flow freely through the space so that your place feels light, so that you too, can feel light and energetic.
Are the surfaces empty? Or is there a whole display of all of your kitchen appliances, of a 100 or more photographs, candles, flowers, little statues, plants, books, … and all of the stuff that finds their place on some surface. Clutter is a very social ‘bug’, it invites all of its friends….and they are very happy to join the crowd.
Again, do you need to get rid of all of it?
No!
But, take most of it away for now, and keep*** only some of your treasures.
One photo on a mantelpiece is more visible than 5 of them, the same goes for paintings on the wall, flowers, plants, candles, cushions, little side tables, … all the stuff that makes the room full, without you even noticing anymore, what is actually there. Believe me.
That’s the moment where I tell people Courtney’s ****story of the 3 vases. There were 3 vases on a cupboard in their house. As it was a wedding gift, they were emotionally attached to it, or so they thought. Courtney took them away for 3 months, and then put them back again. She then told her husband she was going to take the vases away as she wanted to have less stuff in their house. Her husband protested and said he was going to miss them, and that he wanted her to leave them out. Then she asked: did you notice they have been gone for 3 months? And he was flabbergasted, no, he had not…
That is what I mean when I say, you will like your house, as much, or I would even say, more, when there is less stuff out. You don’t need to do it all away. Although, consider seriously what you want to hold on to, and what not. Put some stuff out, and hide the rest. You can switch whenever you want to. It’s so important to have space, to feel the energy flowing again.
Keeping surfaces empty is a huge thing for me. I need my counters to be empty, the tables to be clear of everything, cupboards and side tables are either empty or they have only one item on it. Try it out for a couple of months and see how it makes you feel.The more you see this open space, the more freedom, the more room, the more possibilities you see. It feels so liberating, so freeing. And it cleans so much easier and faster 🙂
Another advantage of having space, is for instance in your kitchen. The more space you see, and have, in your kitchen, the more room you’ll have to cook. The more you prepare your own meals, the healthier you can, and will, eat***. The more you cook your own meals, the more you eat healthy, the more energy you will feel and all will become your new natural way of living. After having cooked, clean all you’ve used, and put away everything after you’re done. It’ll give you a very satisfying feeling of freedom in the morning. Otherwise, when you enter your kitchen in the morning, the first thing you’ll see is the mess of last night. I don’t know anyone who gets a boost out of that sight…
That’s what I mean by ‘being a slave of your clutter’. Because when there is still a mess, the first thing you need to do, is make room to have breakfast or to start your day. So, it’s your stuff that tells you what to do first …, not you… and for that, you pay way too much of your energy.
Even for appliances you only use for a short amount of time every day, is proven to have less of a negative impact when stored away, than when left in full sight. For example, you take out your toaster, use it for half an hour, and you put it out of sight for the remaining 23,5 hours.
Visual stimulants*** can lead to exhaustion.
We already have a whole day of input: visual, auditive, olfactory, taste, touch, so that we have to minimize them as much as possible, or we get sick, burned out, exhausted, …
To minimize our stuff, to keep clean surfaces, to create space, we have to get rid of a lot of our stuff.
Choose to only keep what you use, avoid doubles, triples, or even more of the same. Donate them.
Choose to only keep what you like and donate the rest.
Keep in your wardrobe***** only what fits you now, what suits your current lifestyle, and what you enjoy wearing. Get rid of all of the uncomfortable, worn, ill-fitting clothes and shoes.
A bathroom is where you start and end your day. Make it a quiet, peaceful, calm place’, a place where you like to be, a place that is light and makes you feel relaxed. Make it your little spa. Have you noticed that in all of the professional spa rooms, there is a calm, minimalistic, natural atmosphere? Because it has such a positive impact on your nervous system. Keep all your stuff in a cupboard, out of sight. You can choose to put some essentials on a shelf, but keep the rest out of sight. You can make a mini ritual of self-care every evening and/or morning. That way you go to bed with a smile, and you start your day with a smile, because you took some time to spent on you.
When you open a cupboard, you have to be able to see its whole content. And preferable a little room left, in between the items. That way you see, you know, what you have and you’ll use it.
Things you can’t see, you forget about. And even if you would remember that you had them, the moment you want to use them, I am sure you don’t recall in what hole you dug them into……
The same goes with fridges and pantries: empty them completely, check the expiration dates, use what you have before buying new supplies. You’ll be surprised how much food you have in store.
Every week I do what I call a ‘vide-frigo’(= empty your fridge). That’s when I use all the left-overs and create a dish with those. That’s an ideal way of using all of your stuff, so that there goes nothing to waste, and it’ s a perfect moment to get creative. 🙂
So, my invitation to you all is:
Use the spring energy to open up your house,
to get rid of all the too much,
to let in the fresh air.
Choose wisely and only keep what gives you joy.
Next week, we’ll dig deeper into the decluttering of the mind.
Thank you all for reading me, and for supporting me on Medium! If you want unlimited access to all of my articles and to those of many other authors, you can become a Medium Member and you’ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!
Katrien
*’Becomingminimalist.com’ by Joshua Becker.
**’Creating Space Leads to Feeling Energized’ by Katrien Degraeve.
***’Less is Yes!’ by Katrien Degraeve.
****’Be more with Less’ by Courtney Carver.
*****’Project 333’ by Courtney Carver.