I am still cleaning out our house. Still giving things away. Still putting things up to sell. Still filling up my husbands precious truck with things that I am deciding on.
Why? Why am I doing this to our house, to our things, to our lives? Why is this IMPORTANT?
1. My husband is a tall guy. He has long feet. He wants to be able to walk from the front of our house to the back without stepping on things or stubbing his toe on a piece of furniture that I've shoved into the last available wall space. I am tired of denying him this request.
2. Time. It takes a lot of time each day to put everything away. It takes a lot of time to do a lot of laundry each week. It takes a lot of time to wash all of the dirty dishes. It takes a lot of time away from the fun and good things.
3. Pretty space. Perhaps this should be one of the least things to worry about but I agree with the idea that if your space looks nice you will be eager to keep it that way.
4. A chaotic living space makes for a chaotic brain space. I like some chaos..when I'm feeling inspired and working on some art or some writing I like to fling things around..I like paint splatters on the wall and I LOVE our bumpy, knobby, discolored, ugly kitchen floor because it reminds me of enjoying life even if it means some fabric may get stuck when I iron on the linoleum. But within the chaos there has to be room for tranquility and peace. If I have a messy art space today then I need to feel confident my kitchen can easily be clean. If I've cooked a feast for 10 and used all the dishes and piled them on the counters then I need to be able to go into my clean art space and take a breather. My kids need an organized space to help organize their thoughts and allow them space to meditate and plan and create.
5. Life's fullness doesn't have to come from stuff (or food...a whole other post some day)...
which leads to INTENTIONALITY:
I try to be intentional with my words. I love words. I love writing. I love thinking about words and rolling them around my head arena. That's why I love emailing and messaging on facebook better than talking on the phone- because I can think more about the words first...But guess what. I love my family even more than words. And shouldn't that mean I am even more intentional with how I spend my time with them?
Goal: Get my house to a place where Grant and I can spend 20 minutes after the girls go to bed tidying up and putting things back into place and then hang out the rest of the evening.
Goal: Be able to sweep my floor every day if I so choose- and not just sweep around the clutter.
Goal: Have a reasonable amount of regular dirty dishes..maybe eventually I'll get to having no dirty dishes at the end of the day but I'm not there yet...
Goal: Be able to walk from one side of the house to the other each night without stepping on something.
Goal: Be able to spend 5-15 minutes each evening preparing for activities with my girls the next day- laying out craft stuff, packing lunches, rotating toys as needed.
Goal: Entryway- 3 pairs of shoes per person in the entry at any given time. Umbrellas. Basket for gloves, scarves, hats. One coat/jacket per person in the entry at any given time. One tote bag and one diaper bag in the entry at any given time.
Goal: Speficic art and music space for the girls in the back room....currently in progress...
Goal: Make a list of what's important for us as a family to do/have around each day and each week. Get rid of the rest.
