The Truth About What It Takes To Live Simply

March 2, 2016

There’s a certain book that dominated the home category for pretty much all of 2015, one which hooked its readers on the premise of tidying by promising that if done by the method prescribed, you’d never have to do it again.

One (thorough, thoughtful effort) and done.

Though I have a few qualms with the viral book in question (we’ll leave that for another day), I applaud its overall effect of motivating the masses to rethink the presence of the stuff in their lives.

Much as I hope to equally encourage you all to actually take action and Live Simply, I’ve promised approximately no one ever that if they edit the contents of their entire spaces, they’ll be set forever. In fact, it’s just the opposite: once you understand how to edit correctly and to Live Simply, you understand that editing is a process that is never complete.

the truth about what it takes to live simply--an eye opener!

As long as you own things it is essential that you engage in editing.

The better you get at editing, the more you see that it’s much more of a constant, ongoing mindset than it is a fixed event.

How many of you have rifled through a stack of papers your eighth grade self saved and were mystified as to why you ever thought much of the pile was important?

How many of you have carefully saved and held on to items that years later you realize you didn’t need at all?

How many things have you initially said yes, keep to that sooner or later became no, that can go‘s?

It isn’t because you’re a poor judge of objects. It isn’t because you don’t know to make good, thoughtful decisions about your belongings.

It’s because you change!

Things have meaning for us…until they don’t.

Clothes fit us well…until they don’t. Until their seams before to wear and, beloved though a garment may once have been, we acknowledge that piece has had its day.

Books nourish us…until they don’t. Until they’ve served their purpose for us; we realize we won’t ever re-read that title, or that it’s turned out we never read that book once and are fine without it.

Decorative items delight us…until they don’t. Until we find something new we prefer that reflects our current tastes, or we decide we’re downright sick of staring at that clock after five years.

It isn’t a guarantee; there are things, like people, that we may love forever.

But it’s likely.

As we grow and change, adopt different perspectives on life and acquire new things it’s only natural that what lights us up shifts. How we feel about any one thing is not static, but fluid, existing in conversation with the rest of our belongings and the reality of our lives at any given moment.

That’s why to really Live Simply you must continue editing. Editing is about checking in with yourself and your feelings about what surrounds you. If you consider doing a feeling-check a one or three or seven-time major event in life then we’ve got some other things to discuss.

If you edit your whole life now, comprehensively, with the utmost intentionality, you will be set forever. If only you permanently adopt an editing mindset and anticipate that what you may prize today may well seem insignificant by year’s end. And that this doesn’t make you bad or wasteful or ungrateful but normal, healthy, and human.

9 Comments

  1. Christine Stone on March 2, 2016 at 4:25 am

    I couldn’t agree more. Great post!

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:37 am

      Thanks Christine!

  2. Shelley on March 2, 2016 at 2:37 pm

    Your post was actually a relief! It’s comforting to know that we are human and ever changing, as we evolve so do our surroundings.

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:38 am

      Totally! So glad to hear you get it. xx

  3. Hallie on March 5, 2016 at 12:21 am

    Yes! This is so true! I have held on to books that really had an impact that I swore I would re-read. But, when I think about reading them now, I think I would rather read and learn something new…to continue evolving. Your posts always hit home with me, Annie. Please don’t ever stop.

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:39 am

      Yes, exactly!!!! Thank you for this lady.

  4. Garden, Home and Party on March 8, 2016 at 11:22 am

    I am so happy to have found your site. I was just about to buy the “book”. I was late to purchase not because I have difficulty paring down, but because I had felt like I had read so much of what the book was about through the blog world, that I really didn’t need to. Then, after 1 year of paring down, Mister and myself have started a second round. I began to wonder if we were doing it wrong…why is there now a second round? Your description summarizes the process perfectly. I agree, this is an ongoing process, especially for people like us that have lived in a house for 30+ years and raised our kids here, and are now empty nesters. We cannot leave all of this stuff for them. And, we’ve discovered that our darling daughter in laws have their own stuff. They don’t want our stuff, I can’t blame them. So it’s time to pare down, big time.
    I’ll be following along with email notice of new posts. Thank you.
    Karen

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:41 am

      What a stellar comment, Karen. It really is more like a process of peeling back the layers (year’s worth of decisions) than anything else. So hope the blog will be a helpful resource for you. xx

  5. […] you begin to Live Simply, there are less edits to make on a daily basis (though it continues to be a lifelong process). But the need for a bona-fide donation collection spot in your space is no less […]

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9 Comments

  1. Christine Stone on March 2, 2016 at 4:25 am

    I couldn’t agree more. Great post!

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:37 am

      Thanks Christine!

  2. Shelley on March 2, 2016 at 2:37 pm

    Your post was actually a relief! It’s comforting to know that we are human and ever changing, as we evolve so do our surroundings.

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:38 am

      Totally! So glad to hear you get it. xx

  3. Hallie on March 5, 2016 at 12:21 am

    Yes! This is so true! I have held on to books that really had an impact that I swore I would re-read. But, when I think about reading them now, I think I would rather read and learn something new…to continue evolving. Your posts always hit home with me, Annie. Please don’t ever stop.

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:39 am

      Yes, exactly!!!! Thank you for this lady.

  4. Garden, Home and Party on March 8, 2016 at 11:22 am

    I am so happy to have found your site. I was just about to buy the “book”. I was late to purchase not because I have difficulty paring down, but because I had felt like I had read so much of what the book was about through the blog world, that I really didn’t need to. Then, after 1 year of paring down, Mister and myself have started a second round. I began to wonder if we were doing it wrong…why is there now a second round? Your description summarizes the process perfectly. I agree, this is an ongoing process, especially for people like us that have lived in a house for 30+ years and raised our kids here, and are now empty nesters. We cannot leave all of this stuff for them. And, we’ve discovered that our darling daughter in laws have their own stuff. They don’t want our stuff, I can’t blame them. So it’s time to pare down, big time.
    I’ll be following along with email notice of new posts. Thank you.
    Karen

    • Annie on March 13, 2016 at 11:41 am

      What a stellar comment, Karen. It really is more like a process of peeling back the layers (year’s worth of decisions) than anything else. So hope the blog will be a helpful resource for you. xx

  5. […] you begin to Live Simply, there are less edits to make on a daily basis (though it continues to be a lifelong process). But the need for a bona-fide donation collection spot in your space is no less […]

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