Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Side Effects of Minimizing

Taking the time to consider each of your possessions and determine if they are useful and bring joy to your life can have some unintended consequences.

At this moment you're probably thinking something negative...like all of the time it takes to go through your stuff.  Or perhaps the emotional turmoil of parting with things you've been hanging on to for so long...

Well you would be mistaken...I mean unintended as a positive thing.

I've found that there are "projects" I've left undone that were just waiting for me to return to them, such as:

  • I have pictures that I took down from my bedroom walls, when it was repainted 2 years ago, that have not been put back up.
  • Yarn that I've been saving for a crocheting project.
  • Kids artwork that is waiting to be framed and hung
Image result for unfinished projects

This weekend I took some time and handled those things that have been lingering...and you know what?

It felt just as good to get the picture hung back up in my room as it did to get rid of 22 items of clothing a couple of weeks ago.

Having things finished feels amazing.  

It leaves you with a sense of weight being lifted off of your shoulders...weight that you didn't even know existed.

I found that some of the artwork I was holding on to for framing perhaps didn't ALL need to be held on to.  I selected some of my favorite pieces that the kids have created and recycled the rest.

It may sound a little callous to have disposed of some of their work...but really what were they going to do with it?  It's been on a shelf for a couple of months and no one has even asked about the various pieces.

The creation of the art is what is exhilarating and thinking back to the time they created each piece with their friends is a fond memory...we don't need the actual item to keep that good feeling alive.

So what I would like to know is if you have unfinished projects in your house?

Are they ones you could knock out quickly?  If so why not tackle one or two of them and enjoy the freeing feeling. 

Also a small update on the items I've been purging.  I was lucky enough to sell a pair of shoes today and yesterday I gave away a charm bracelet that I've had for several years and never worn (the charm isn't even on the bracelet yet).



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