Saturday, May 29, 2010

Why We Are Becoming Minimalists

I imagine living far from civilization, with my husband, children, and animals. I imagine we would live in a small cabin, partially underground so as to disrupt the scenery as little as possible. I imagine three bedrooms, max. Ours, the boys' room, and the girls' room, packed to the brim with people, and bursting at the seams with love. I imagine few toys, fewer electronics, and loads of family time around character-building chores. Where hand sewing is a chore, but also a hobby. Where milking the cow and making butter qualifies as normal. Where little boys play swords with sticks and girls know how to make grass dolls. Where the Bible is fun to read.

I imagine. I imagine that if I don't drastically alter the way I think and behave, imaginings are all they will ever be.

I look around me at our three bedroom town home, in the middle of the city. We have a laptop in the living room, on a huge desk full of games, to keep our big screen TV company. We have a PS3 AND a Wii, and DVD's and VHS's, without which we would surely perish. Our son has a bike, a big dump truck, probably ten cars, three or four baby dolls, countless random toys, more blocks than we can count, and an assortment of stuffed animals. He is two. We have three vacuums. We have a washer and a dryer (which I adore) and a big stove and oven. We have lights in every room, three of which I can see are on right now, even though it is daytime. We have a spare room for guests, even though no one ever seems to come over. I have a sewing machine I haven't touched in months (I do prefer hand sewing). We have TWO toilets. For three people.

In light of all of this, I have made the decision to go minimalist. I have struggled for so long with my possessions, and the list is always growing. I can't even seem to keep my house clean, because I just have SO MUCH that I have to keep in order. And we are only three (soon to be four). When I do clean and organize our things, It feels so much fresher, so much better. I love to throw stuff out and finally feel like I can breathe in a room. But it never seems to last. No sooner do I get everything picked up than someone has come behind me and swept it all back out, no sooner do I throw out useless junk, than it is being replaced by more useless junk. No matter how much space we have or how much storage area is available, we fill it up and overflow it. So I am throwing it away, again. Having a yard sale, benefiting my dream of owning mountain land. I am tired of being a slave to money, a slave to possessions. I am sick of being hurled throughout my life, waiting for the cleaning fairy to come and make it all better.

Onward and upward!


John 10:30 "I and my Father are one."

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