Is the Simply Living Challenge working?

St Boniface -  Anglican Cathedral, Bunbury 

(a spacious place)

So is it working - this Simply Living Challenge? ( http://www.facebook.com/thesimplylivingchallenge)

Am I really managing to simplify my life? The simple answer is yes - but the long answer has a 'but' attached to it. BUT I have a long way to go. Thank goodness I still have a large part of this year left. And thank goodness I have a lifetime to work on it. The more I travel this simple living journey the more I come to realise how much more there is to pare back, and in so many ways. 

A word that has always scared me is now wooing me in the strangest and most unexpected way. The word is 'minimalism'. I used to think it meant white, and plain, and 'lack,' and boring. But now I see it can mean spacious, in a spiritual sort of way. And I long for a spacious place. I don't mean a large place. I mean a place where I can breathe. A place of simplicity. It certainly doesn't mean that I need to get rid of my eclectic furniture and colourful pre-loved crocheted blankets and cushions, but it might. I still have much to consider on this Simply Living Challenge. 

In month one - January - I considered 'Appearance'.

In February - the challenge was 'Making from Scratch'.

In March - it was 'Simplifying the Soul'.

And this month - April - it is 'Clutter-busting'. 

I started January alone and then friends, and then friends of friends started liking the page. And then I invited Ellen Scott Grable to administer the page with me. I knew her input would encourage others, but I also (selfishly) knew that if anyone could help whip me into shape it would be Ellen! And how right I was. Her mini challenges have had me dress more simply, feed my family by bartering, taught me how to budget and had me consider what I would replace if a fire burnt down our home - surprisingly, very little!

The Simply Living Challenge has me exposing the real me, in many different ways. For a start I'm no longer hiding behind make-up. I'm not putting anything on my skin that I can't eat. I think before I buy: Am I prepared to spend money on this? Will it hurt anyone, animals or this beautiful earth? Can I use what I have? Can I make it? Can I buy it second hand or can I swap or share? And I positively love to upcycle/ repurpose. I re-gift. I consider (and re-consider) my commitments. I ponder on how my living simply might help others to simply live. How might I be more generous? Where can I bring peace? Where can I make a difference?  As stuff loses its hold on me - all of creation, including nature and animals and humankind, increases in importance to me, and I can truly walk in the footsteps of St Francis who followed the way of Jesus.  

And now, in challenge 4 I am cutting the clutter from my life - both outer and inner, and I am learning that outer clutter makes inner peace much more difficult.I can't stand my paper piles and the boxes and boxes of cards and photos, and jars of human bits and pieces, like baby hair and teeth! 

I hate to admit it but all those books (those books that I profess to love) are causing me stress too. They clutter our already very small house. And so I am hoping - though I am not too confident - that I can cull some of them. I am also happy for the first time to sit with space. I no longer feel the desire to fill up a half empty book case. 

If I can make some room in our home I suspect that I might actually be quite happy to have a wall with nothing against it! Perhaps less really is more. If I keep walking my talk I think I just might find out.

Asta x

If you are following the Simply Living Challenge please share with us what you like about it. 

Pare back, pare back, pare back!

'Our life is frittered away with details. Simplify, simplify, simplify.' - Henry David Thoreau

A word I have often used to describe myself has been scattered... another is disorganised. Sometimes I have self diagnosed myself as ADD. I'm probably not hyperactive, but who knows? What I do know is that I am my own worst enemy - and that whilst I long for inner peace I often contribute to my 'cluttered' state. 

Sitting peacefully in church yesterday I had a bit of an epiphany. Though I had a role assisting the priest, I was calm and at ease. Comparing my recent feelings at home and the ones at church - I realised that at church my mind is focused, my role is clear and I feel I am doing something I am called to. Everything at church is simple and clutter free - physically and mentally. All is well with my soul. 

At home, a place I love to be above all places (except perhaps nature), I have recently struggled to find sanctuary. Clutter is creeping back into my home. Not just 'stuff' or 'things' but piles of paper, long to do lists, letters to reply to, books to read and review and other writing 'round to-s', boxes of photos and letters, newspapers, clutter in the kitchen cupboards, wardrobes bulging, newly washed and dried clothes are piling up on our spare bed, the dishes breed every time I turn my back.... mess, disorganisation. Clutter! And it makes my head hurt. In fact I felt so overwhelmed by it the other day that I woke with these awful words on my lips - 'my life hurts'. What was I thinking? What AM I thinking? It is all self induced!!! 

I feel I need to pare back, pare back, pare back... or in Henry Thoreau's words - 'simplify, simplify, simplify.' 

When I simplify - all is well with my world. I know this - so why do I self sabotage?

This journey of simplifying has its ups and downs. It is a process. Lately I have had some fabulous wins. I am certainly saying more 'no-s' than 'yes-s'. (But maybe I should say no 'yes-s' for a while.)  I feel I take one step forward and two steps back. But all I really need to worry about is keeping one foot in front of the other. All I need to do is to keep going. And that is something I am doing. 

The picture at the top of this post was taken just moments ago. It is the result of some serious purging this morning. It is a step in the right direction. 

I know that external clutter affects the mind and the soul. Thankfully I can do something about that. Now I am off to go through the clothes I have left in my keep pile to see if I can give away some more! I keep thinking of that tip for travel - pack your suitcase, then go back and take half out. Wow. Can I do that? Just maybe. And if I can't, that's okay. 'One more step along the way I go'. (Do you know that hymn? Love it.)

Asta x