Are you decluttering this new year? Me too.
Dealing with my family's clutter and minimalism
Hi friend,
This week, I've been pretty quiet. Reason being that I am working around the clock to help my family reorganize the home. Clearing clutter each day, fixing walls, organizing rooms, it's a lot more than I had anticipated. Stuff has been slowly accumulating over the years, especially after my sister and I moved out. When I was sick last year, it has been one of my goals to help my family with the home. I'm surrendering to time and accepting that tomorrow is never guaranteed. It's now or never to tidy up!
Coming from an immigrant home and not being wealthy, hoarding is survival. It's not a matter of being messy, but a means to stretch every dollar possible. Having been quite the hoarder myself while I was in college, I can relate to my family. It's been quite a mental hurdle to overcome myself, but it is possible. One thing I'm working on is to stop lecturing my family on this. I don't feel good after it and my family surely does not feel good after listening. I'm focusing on the little wins to motivate my family for the bigger wins.
For anyone looking to declutter, one big tip to is "balance". You don't have to flip from hoarder to extreme minimalism, but find a balance in the number of items you keep relative to how often or frequently you use it. My advice is to keep things for the upcoming few months to year and no more. For example, I realized that keeping every single bag from every store was a bit excessive. If I reused them only a few times a year, just a handful should be enough. (Also, reuseable bags FTW)
Have any decluttering tips? Does your family have any hoarding tendencies?
Speaking of Tidying Up
Many of you know I'm obsessed with Marie Kondo's book - The Life-Changing Tip of Tidying Up. This book walks you through bringing more joy into your life by clearing clutter through the KonMari method. Both my move to NYC and San Francisco forced me to minimize but after reading her book, I was inspired to clear even more clutter from my life. I can definitely preach - there's more joy in my life!
If you haven't heard, Netflix has partnered with her to launch a Tidying Up series! Getting my family to read the book was not happening (tried for years, actually), but watching a show together was so much easier. 8 episodes, about 40 min each. Each episode builds on top of each other so don't skip episode 1! After episode 2, my family started pulling clothes out left and right to clear clutter. I am amazed.
Podcast I'm Loooooving
I'm an avid Oprah fanatic and her podcast, Super Soul Sunday, does not disappoint. Each week, she invites guests to talk about life, health and spirituality.
Recently, she had Daniel Goleman on her podcast. (Who wrote the book on emotional intelligence) Great episode for anyone looking to brush up on EQ and "emotional hygeine". (Tip: be aware, connect, and help others)
Quote I'm Pondering
"The greatest discoverery of my generation is the fact that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." -William James
As always, thanks for reading!
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Have a beautiful day!
Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven