The Surrendered Path

I appreciate the essential, and have been continuously drawn to removing all nonessential, and pursuing focusing more on minimalism for about a decade now.

The journey has taken different shapes with each passing year.  But at its core, the more I have minimalized “stuff” (commitments, emails, unnecessary fluff) the more FREE TIME I have.

Time is our universal currency. I now spend more time doing things I love and dreaming, identifying things I want to prioritize, and less time is spent maintaining my “stuff”. But it wasn’t always this way.

I can say yes to things I REALLY want, because I say no to distractions. If I said yes unintentionally to anything and everything, I would be saying no to so many things that are deeply important to me personally, not realizing what I was giving up.

The more free time I have, the more time I have to really LIVE. “To make it count” as they say.

Driving to new adventures, deep breathing, marveling, filming and editing, hiking, reading, learning, reading with my kids, eating lunch at a cafe, pouring into friends and family, and being intentional about life, all fulfill me.

Those passions supercharge my energy and fill my cup. Yours will be different, as they should be.

But will you also notice that your time with the kids (assuming you have them, or substitute partner, friends or family) has felt richer and more enjoyable with each passing year because you started bubbling over with convictions, ready to fully be present hearing their convictions and what was on their heart while playing.

I found I had more to offer them. We weren’t in routines rushing and being busy, we were choosing each day to live intentionally, how we wanted, and how we needed. And they loved it.

After setting off in the van with more adventures; life maximized.

I missed the blue skies, the sounds of birds singing, exploring nature, and her epic views.

The mental space a busy environment was taking up, was shocking.

Every pile of papers, mail, dirty dishes, overflowing dirty clothes hampers, knick knacks, stuff on the floor, stuff on tables, stuff on counters, it all catches your eye. I lived this way most of my life. Everything you see is processed by your brain and thoughts, and takes up mental space about something that has to be done. Every household item and every item in your car gets processed, it’s all mental clutter and drains your energy. There is only so much space.

Piles can be relics of a life someone WANTS to be living, buried under a stack of not yet read books, seeing puzzles, cooking sets, and entertaining dishes, drawers full of unused art sets, special clothing saved for vacations – all not being used. All saved for that elusive “someday”. They sat under the physical belongings keeping life messy and keeping us from using it.

Identifying the life you want, and removing everything that isn’t that life, and then sharing (donating) with others provides so much joy.

I encourage you to carve out your time and allocate it towards making your unique home a personal retreat tailored to your comforts.

Pick one area of your house that gets used a lot. That way you will really enjoy the fruits of your labor. Only this time, when you tidy, don’t do it on auto pilot. Review each item. Maybe everything stays, maybe you realize you have old decor that no longer suits you, or you find lost items you have since replaced, or things from another season in life that you can donate for someone else to breathe life into.

Your home should be one of the best feeling places on earth to you.

Clutter is a delayed decision. The item was set down to be dealt with later. The ramification being that we aren’t lazy most likely, but in todays world, we have all been bombarded.

The amount of trivial decisions we make in a day with media, texts, discounts, reminders, appointments, emails, news alerts and that’s on top of real life decisions about laundry, meals, housework. Then add if you have kids and a family the amount of decisions required. Now add a career and at some point it’s unavoidable that decision fatigue, rightfully so, sets in. When do you have time for things that set your soul on fire?

We can’t possibly make the number of decisions required in a day if you haven’t intentionally removed what, to you, is nonessential. Freeing up headspace.

Compound that for days and weeks and then there’s the life you didn’t plan, or want, taking over.

Start today, start now. Change one small area of your life that you feel is out of control. Maybe it’s a counter, maybe it’s email and you need to unsubscribe. Regain control and then realize how enjoyable it is having that clean living room, kitchen, inbox, car whatever area you chose. It will spread and you will love it.

Does this mean the answer is having as many (or as few) personal items as we do? Certainly not. There are many people who intentionally curate their life with BOTH far fewer possessions than I use currently, all the way to multiple houses more. (Curious though how Elon Musk sold all of his many properties and minimized to a tiny house to focus on his priorities – I get that.) 

Its only whats right for you in this season. 

There is no magic answer. There is only what brings your heart joy and makes you smile. You’ll know when you are there.

And sometimes it’s a matter of continuously doing this as life has us always bringing in new items and you rotate all the items that you no longer need. Constantly, kindly, giving away to others. 

The trade off for your TIME INVESTMENT in this little experiment will be big. I speak from experience, your mental peace and having time to do things you love, that fulfill you, is priceless. These things will no longer be hidden from you because there are relics of the 25 other things you have to do catching your eye between your should be peaceful morning walk from the bedroom to your hot beverage of choice. Most likely, right now, your thoughts are hijacked a whole lot more than you realize.

So for now, have fun with it. 

Where might you start? Next Saturday, will your morning be different? Perhaps as early as tomorrow will be different!

Xo, Katie