Simplify

Ever since we moved into our new home a year-and-a-half ago (how long can I keep calling it our “new” home?), I’ve been obsessed with clutter. As in, letting go of clutter. I have delighted in getting rid of stuff. (Admittedly, I’ve also delighted in buying new stuff--but I think more is going out than coming in!) We’ve made countless trips to Goodwill, sold dozens of items on Craigslist, and generally worked on paring down what we own. In the last week, I’ve thought even more about clutter--but this time I’m thinking more of mental clutter. Emotional clutter. Time clutter. It felt like there were certain things getting in the way of living the life I want.

I read this quote recently, and it said some of what I’ve been feeling.

“And in the stillness, when all other voices were silent, I heard His voice speaking to me. And He was leading and guiding and clarifying and redefining. The vision became clear. And with that clarity, I was empowered to make decisions. Instead of yielding to or even entertaining every request put before me, I was able to say, “I do this. I only do this. I don’t do that.” Freedom!”

That was the problem with all of this “clutter.” There were too many other voices that were getting in the way of His voice. And I wanted to change that. So I made some choices: ways to simplify and declutter, both by letting go and adding on.

Things I Choose to Let Go:

*Facebook. Shocking, I know--that someone can live in this day and age with no Facebook page. But I decided to deactivate my Facebook account because it was nibbling away at my time. Five extra minutes? Check Facebook. Waiting for something? Check Facebook. And as entertaining as it was to read about a friend from high school’s dinner plans or a co-worker’s latest annoyance, it didn’t add anything to my life except more mental clutter. I haven’t checked Facebook since last Friday and guess what? I don’t miss it. My account is only deactivated (not deleted) which means I could activate it again if I want to. And I may decide to go back at some point. But being without Facebook is actually quite liberating.

*Google Reader. This is the other way my time is consumed by the computer: I’ve been reading over a 100 blogs on my Google Reader list. They’re all good information: blogs about being a better or more creative mom. Blogs about decorating a beautiful home. Blogs about the latest scrapbooking supplies, tastiest recipes, and best deals. See? Great stuff. But you know what happens when you’re constantly looking at beautiful pictures of someone else’s home? Your own--perfectly beautiful--home starts to look less appealing. And you know what happens when someone else is constantly telling you how to be a better mom? You feel like you’re not a good-enough mom just the way you are. Yes, I was finding a ton of great ideas--but too much of my time was spent finding great ideas, and not enough of my time was spent doing great ideas. So I cut out about half of the blogs I read, and I find I’ve been checking the ones that are still there a lot less.

Things I Choose to Add:

*God’s Word. If you have a good memory, you know that one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to be more consistent with reading the Word. I haven’t done a terrific job--better than last year, but not great. I’ve been wanting to do a “read-through-the-bible-in-a-year” program, because I’ve done it a couple of times before and it always helped me to stay in the Word every day. So I figured I would wait until January 1st and start again--until last Friday, when I thought, “Why can’t I start on September 3rd?” So I did.

*Movement. One of my other Resolutions was to do more yoga. Ha. That happened maybe three times. Then I was over it. So I’m not going back to that goal, because I know it doesn’t work for me. Instead, I’m committing to moving more. Less sitting in front of the computer (see above) and more getting up and doing. Sometimes it means taking a walk with the kids, other times it just means getting up and cleaning something. Moving feels better than sitting.

That’s it for now. Pretty simple, but I’ve been committed to these changes for the last week and so far it feels really good. It feels like I’m getting more done. It feels like I’m comparing myself to others a lot less. It feels like I’m appreciating more of what I have instead of thinking about what I don’t. It feels like His voice has a better chance of being heard.

Thanks for sticking with me through another self-reflective post. I promise the next one will be full of pictures of cute kids and fun life experiences. But now it’s time to get off the computer.

“Sometimes, we have to let go of the Good to make room for what is Good For Us, so that we can offer our Best and focus on the Essential.”