My journey to simplicity

This is going to be a very short post. The past week has been so busy with my move and my mom's move. I'm too tired to write an adequate post, but I didn't want to break my promise. I promised to post every Monday and Friday and I want to stick to that commitment. However, being so preoccupied with moving has left me a little uninspired. A few highlights and thoughts from the past weekend. I have way more things than I thought I did, even though I got rid of so much! My mom has so much more stuff than me. I wonder if living with me while I was starting off on my minimalist journey will have an impact on her and she'll get rid of some of her excess? The moving company I hired was so much better than the one my mom hired. She said she'll go with the one I chose the next time she moves. The quality of the service was very different. I'm not very good at moving. I think I'm more ready than I actually am. It's like I don't see it. I really hope I c...

So this past weekend I freaked out a little. All of the little "issues" that one would only notice after moving into a new place were getting to me. I was tired. I was stressed. I was emotional. I was anxious. Saturday night I had a serious moment of panic when I thought that maybe I had made a mistake with my decision to move into this condo. Not about moving downtown. I'm still quite excited and happy about that decision. But about moving into this particular unit. I didn't really want to bring my anxiety to the attention of my mother and daughter. I felt like I had to hide it so as not to cause them anxiety. But I still had to talk to someone about it. Luckily, I had friends to discuss my concerns with. They were patient with me. They listened to (or read) what I had to say (or text), and were able to reassure me and calm me down. I'm very grateful to know such nice people! They're there to listen and lend a helping hand. I wasn't expecting such sup...

I never really taught my daughter, Cat, how to clean and organize. For some strange reason that I haven't figured out yet, I much prefer cleaning when I'm at home alone. So it's not like she's seen me in action all that much. And when it came to her room, at a young age she decided that she didn't want me in there helping her out. So all I could really do was tell her "go clean your room" without much more direction than that. Cat has her challenges when it comes to staying organized, which I think have something to do with her ADHD. And let's not forget that she's a teenager. AND, like I said, I've never really taught her how. I was really happy when she finally let me help her to prepare for the move. I thought this would be a good time to teach her everything I've learned on minimalism over the past months. I knew I had to stay calm no matter what I'd find in her room, otherwise she'd get upset and I'd be kicked out. I ...

Well, we've spent our first night in the condo. The last days before the move were busy.  I was exhausted, which is kind of a good thing since I fell asleep pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow. I didn't have my usual first night in a new place anxieties. Well, I did feel them, but for about 2 minutes and then I was sleeping.  Friday - 6 days before the move I had taken the afternoon off to go work at the condo, instead I ended up taking my daughter, Cat, to the emergency clinic in the afternoon. She sprained her ankle at school. Saturday - 5 days before the move I tried painting the ceilings at the condo. Unfortunately it didn't work out. The popcorn ceilings were flaking off as I was painting. So I decided to leave them as is (I only did the ceiling in Cat's bedroom closet). I saw the potential mess as too much for me to deal with right now. Instead I shifted my focus to installing the curtain rods. That didn't go as planned either. I was getting fr...

I've been spending lots of time alone at the condo, cleaning it, preparing it for us to move into. My mom thinks I should get my daughter to help. Even though it's tiring, it's sort of a treat to do it alone. I take my time, familiarizing myself with the new place. Its light. Its sounds. Its space. This part of moving is my favourite. There are few items in the condo, namely some cleaning supplies, my toolbox, my record player and records, a couple of outdoor folding chairs, and my head full of thoughts.  I've played a few records while cleaning, but for the most part I spend my time there working in the not so quiet of my thoughts.    Once in awhile, my mind wanders to a little self-criticism. It's automatic for me. I'm harder on myself than I am on anyone else. When my thoughts turn to self-criticism, I've been stopping them .  I change the internal dialogue to one with a little more compassion. My journey hasn't been exactly easy. You might ...

Monday - 17 days before the move  I had plans to pack up some rarely used kitchen items. Instead, I had a really lovely long telephone conversation with an old high school friend I hadn't talked to since graduation 25 years ago! Catching up with him was well worth postponing the packing! Tuesday - 16 days before the move  I got the keys for the condo. I'm happy with my colour choices for the walls. :) In the evening, I helped my daughter with her room. We're not done yet, but we did make a significant dent in the amount of items she had. I also did a little work in my room since there was supposed to be a showing at the townhouse the next day. Wednesday - 15 days before the move Before leaving for work, I packed up the car with a few things to donate. During lunch time, my awesome friend Christy, Paul and his brother John came with me to check out the condo. They all approved of my new living space, and apparently we'll be havin...

I'm tired. The idea of moving downtown has been very exciting. But like with many changes, it's been work. Moving is generally a lot of work. Of course, the less one owns, the easier it is to coordinate everything. But it's still somewhat stressful. For instance, the condo owner didn't get all of the work done before I got the keys. I find that a little upsetting. Especially since he was planning on renting out the unit for August 1st and I asked him to hold it until September 1st. So he had an extra month to get things done. And yet, here we are, a week after I got the keys and I was still running after him to get things finalized. They're not major issues mind you, but nevertheless, he didn't respect his part of the contract to have the work completed before I took possession of the rental unit. The condo was built in the 80s. It's old. For the past decade, we've been living in new constructions. We haven't needed to compromise much on the cond...

I’ve been enjoying my journey to simplicity. It’s not always easy. Sometimes I struggle with letting go of some item (or expectation, or relationship, or whatever). But when I manage to let go, it feels great! I feel relieved. I’ve sometimes wondered why I didn’t let go before. What was holding me back?   I’ve also been enjoying writing about it all here, and talking about it with whoever will listen. It’s become a passion! If reading about my journey can inspire you and help you make whatever decision you’ve been having a difficult time making, then that’s a real bonus! But mostly, I’ve been doing it all to improve my quality of life – to help me on my journey.   I’ve notice recently that some of the people around me who’ve been following my journey and talk to me about it seem to feel guilty or apologize for “not being as much of a minimalist as me”. To these people (and whoever else might feel this way), I want to say that you shouldn’t apologize for not making the...