My whole journey through minimalism started when I decluttered the physical and then the mental stuff around me. Before I decluttered, I thought that a home needed to look like a museum or be perfect for a scavenger hunt. The mental stories were similar. The most stuff I had the better I was. But I wasn’t. I felt suffocated by all of the things and the made up rules. I couldn’t just sit down a read a book because there was always something that needed to be done around the house. Today I am going to break down how to declutter based upon my most favorite holiday, the 4th of July in America. After reading countless decluttering books I found that there are three decluttering options. Professional fireworks, home fireworks, and sparklers. All options are pretty but all options are not for everyone. Let’s break it down.
Professional Fireworks: You are the type to jump head first into anything you decide to do. You have no problem associating with the “Hell Yeah” mentality. You wake up some days and decide to make complete changes ranging from cutting off most of your hair, coloring your hair to color of the rainbow, careers that are completely opposite of each other, and what you plan on eating or not eating ever again.
Home Fireworks: You love the idea of professional fireworks but not 100% convinced it’s right for you. You like to get things done but like to keep things reasonable. You wake up some days and decide to try a new recipe in this new way of eating but not ready to call yourself by that new eating trend.
Sparklers: You are totally onboard with change when change goes at your more calculated pace. You are daring when you cut off 2 inches of hair rather than your previous rule of 1 inch but cutting off 3 inches won’t be happening.
Which one are you?
If you are a Professional Firework, may I suggest the atomic nature of Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Start with taking all of your clothes from all of the spots in your house and dump them all on your bed. Also consider the following books:
- The Art of Discarding: How to Get Rid of Clutter and Find Joy by Nagisa Tatsumi
For the Home Fireworks, let me suggest Joshua Becker’s Minimalist Home. Joshua’s approach to tidying is to go room by room giving you grace to just close that door in between decluttering. Also consider the following books:
- Project 333: The Minimalist Fashion Challenge That Proves Less Really Is So Much More by Courtney Carver
- You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too by Tammy Strobel
- The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker
For the Sparklers, let me suggest Gretchen Rubin’s Outer Order, Inner Calm. Gretchen’s approach starts with the junk draw and allows you to build up your decluttering method. Also consider the following books:
- Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary
- Make Space: A Minimalist’s Guide to the Good and the Extraordinary by Regina Wong
- Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay
I think I am more of a home fireworks person. At the beginning of this year, I decided I wanted to declutter. I spent the first three weeks feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. Then, I made a list of all the rooms, cupboards, closets and drawers I needed to go through and decided to tackle one item on the list at a time. I try to check one thing off the list every week. So far, so good. It’s a work in progress.
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Great work!
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