Andrew and Gabriella Morrison are friends who are leaders in the tiny house movement. www.Tinyhousebuid.com. On part of their site is a cogent take on how one person (Dawn) decluttered her life. I thought it would be valuable to pass it along in bits and pieces.  So here’s the first part:

 I was particularly drawn to the idea that de-cluttering your stuff and your life helps to de-clutter your mind. Boy, does that sound good! It seemed like it might help and it certainly couldn’t hurt.

I thought that I would start with my clothes, but what I actually started with was accepting my present size. After many years of defining myself, in some ways, by my weight I have come to a point where I am happy to be me as I am. This process allowed me to let go of my old clothes. Previously I had numerous storage containers of smaller clothing, even underwear, (really??) in my closet and in storage (as if keeping them around would somehow change things). I don’t need them anymore so they went bye, bye! I even donated my vintage dresses that I had longed to fit into again. A couple years ago giving them away would have been unthinkable. Now I have about 10 days of clothes for cold weather and 10 days for spring, summer, and fall combined. Keeping a handful of cardigans works well through all the seasons. I do have a few “inspiration” clothes that are smaller and a few bigger maternity items in case I need them, but everything else fits.

The next task to conquer was decorations and knick-knacks. I am lucky in the fact that my husband doesn’t have a lot of personal possessions, mostly shared ones. When I told him I wanted to donate my personal stuff that I no longer used he was, for the most part, delighted. He had never understood why on earth I had so much crap to begin with. Getting rid of some of this stuff was easy, but certainly not all of it. I had suspected, but never really knew, the depth of emotions that some of these items invoked for me. Each gift reminded me of the giver on an emotional level, even if the item was no longer needed or wanted. I also realized that there were a few items that I had been holding on to in an effort to save that part of my past, refusing to let it go. Determined to live in the here and now I took photos of some of the things that I thought I had cherished (but were really holding me back) along with a few other sentimental items and let them go. I kept some things, but I let the past go. Perhaps I will never look at these photos; who knows. The important thing is that I made a commitment to live in the present.

I regularly teach an incredibly effective way to declutter your life. This story will be continued, but IF you are serious and would like to become part of a tribe who’s purpose is to declutter their lives, email me and let’s see what miracles can happen.

Info at creative-visions.co. Put Declutter my life in the subject line.