Happy Friday, I hope you have had a great week and are looking forward to something fun this weekend! I have and am!! It's a Disney Movie weekend here at the house!! And that's always a good time! I didn't want to talk about Disney Movies though, I wanted to share with you my latest project!!
As I was out in the garage looking at all of the "stuff" that is out there, I was looking forward towards spring and the chance to clean out, again. The title "The Great Purge" came to me and I'd thought I'd share my purging process with ya!! I'm not sure why we feel the need to accumulate "stuff"? We always seem to keep something saying that "maybe one day I'll use it" but one day never comes, and those original findings end up the bottom layer of a large mass of unnecessary belongings. I am putting an end to it, I am. I am so over this need for stuff. So, here's where it all started....well at least where the action started...the thoughts were well before this!
Fast forward to New Years Eve Day, as we were packing up all of the Christmas decorations, I decided that it would be a good idea to clean up the attic. I've been on the thought process of only having what I need and needing what I have! So this was the perfect time to begin the simplfying process....right?? I finished the attic, which wasn't too bad, because ever since moving to this home, it's something that I've been intentional about keeping up with. I continued the process as we packed up Christmas, sorting out things that we no longer enjoyed or needed.
We held it last weekend and it went very well! It was a great idea, we passed on quite a few items and it was fun catching up with new and old friends!! Now it's Friday, a week later and we've taken A.LOT of items back out to the attic. It seems that we'll be having an old fashioned yard sale in the spring! Hopefully we will find plenty more to get rid of!!
It pained me to take it all back out there though, it feels incomplete to me, somehow like I failed. Which, I didn't, but still. I am looking forward to setting up my downstairs again, maybe in a fresh new way. I'm also looking forward to having the satisfaction of reaching the end point if this process, when we can begin enjoying our belongings because they no longer own us, rather we are in complete control of them.
I am slowly gaining ground on reclaiming my space! Last night we ate dinner AT THE TABLE!!! Which is the first time in almost three weeks! It was nice! I can walk through my kitchen and my counter space has regrown to its original size! The attached garage has ample space to get to the items that we actually do need and I can see the light at the end of this tunnel! Now just don't ask me to go out to the two car garage, which by the way, doesn't hold cars!! Ha!
I will continue to purge, questioning each thing in my home that I put my hand on. I will be asking myself these questions: Do I use it, need it, love it? Can it be used somewhere else, in a different way? Is it a timeless piece, or will it be out when the new trend or style comes in? I only want to have what I need, and need what I have. I want to keep pieces that don't reflect my current mood or style, but pieces that are timeless, crafted well and mean something to me.
I do believe that this process is a picture of what a mental clean out is too! I want to remove the mental and emotional clutter that I carry around with me. I want to create open spaces not only in my home, but in my heart. I figure that the more "junk" I get rid of, the more space I have for God to move in! I don't feel the need to have things lining the walls of my home or the walls of my mind. I want a clean slate, a clean home, a clean heart, so that I and my family can function better. So that we can enjoy the things that we have and use them, instead of feeling so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that we have and never using any of it!
Maybe we will get to those projects once we can get to the supplies needed! I may even craft more, now that I'll have the space and ability to get to what I need. I'm excited...I know it may seem crazy to some of you. We do have a large house and plenty of space to hold plenty of junk, but I don't believe that's how God would have us live. Oh well, if you feel inspired by The Great Purge, please let me know!!! I'd love to hear about your process, mental and physical!!! Let's clean out friends and be free!!!!
God bless <3 Lorraine
As I was out in the garage looking at all of the "stuff" that is out there, I was looking forward towards spring and the chance to clean out, again. The title "The Great Purge" came to me and I'd thought I'd share my purging process with ya!! I'm not sure why we feel the need to accumulate "stuff"? We always seem to keep something saying that "maybe one day I'll use it" but one day never comes, and those original findings end up the bottom layer of a large mass of unnecessary belongings. I am putting an end to it, I am. I am so over this need for stuff. So, here's where it all started....well at least where the action started...the thoughts were well before this!
It actually started a few moths ago, after Hurricane Sandy hit and I received an invitation from a friend of mine, to bring all used clothing to her for delivery to affected areas! I was happy to help and once I started gathering old clothes from the attic, the bug hit me and I knew that this wouldn't be the end of it!!
Fast forward to New Years Eve Day, as we were packing up all of the Christmas decorations, I decided that it would be a good idea to clean up the attic. I've been on the thought process of only having what I need and needing what I have! So this was the perfect time to begin the simplfying process....right?? I finished the attic, which wasn't too bad, because ever since moving to this home, it's something that I've been intentional about keeping up with. I continued the process as we packed up Christmas, sorting out things that we no longer enjoyed or needed.
I moved out to our two car garage attic and hit the motherload! It seems to be the resting place of many unwanted items. The problem is that these items don't leave on their own and we've never taken the time to deal with them. So I brought everything in the house and began sorting. I figured I'd set everything up and invite some friends over for a little indoor "yard" sale! The finding and sorting process took a week and then another week was spent setting up the downstairs for the sale.
It pained me to take it all back out there though, it feels incomplete to me, somehow like I failed. Which, I didn't, but still. I am looking forward to setting up my downstairs again, maybe in a fresh new way. I'm also looking forward to having the satisfaction of reaching the end point if this process, when we can begin enjoying our belongings because they no longer own us, rather we are in complete control of them.
I am slowly gaining ground on reclaiming my space! Last night we ate dinner AT THE TABLE!!! Which is the first time in almost three weeks! It was nice! I can walk through my kitchen and my counter space has regrown to its original size! The attached garage has ample space to get to the items that we actually do need and I can see the light at the end of this tunnel! Now just don't ask me to go out to the two car garage, which by the way, doesn't hold cars!! Ha!
I will continue to purge, questioning each thing in my home that I put my hand on. I will be asking myself these questions: Do I use it, need it, love it? Can it be used somewhere else, in a different way? Is it a timeless piece, or will it be out when the new trend or style comes in? I only want to have what I need, and need what I have. I want to keep pieces that don't reflect my current mood or style, but pieces that are timeless, crafted well and mean something to me.
I do believe that this process is a picture of what a mental clean out is too! I want to remove the mental and emotional clutter that I carry around with me. I want to create open spaces not only in my home, but in my heart. I figure that the more "junk" I get rid of, the more space I have for God to move in! I don't feel the need to have things lining the walls of my home or the walls of my mind. I want a clean slate, a clean home, a clean heart, so that I and my family can function better. So that we can enjoy the things that we have and use them, instead of feeling so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that we have and never using any of it!
Maybe we will get to those projects once we can get to the supplies needed! I may even craft more, now that I'll have the space and ability to get to what I need. I'm excited...I know it may seem crazy to some of you. We do have a large house and plenty of space to hold plenty of junk, but I don't believe that's how God would have us live. Oh well, if you feel inspired by The Great Purge, please let me know!!! I'd love to hear about your process, mental and physical!!! Let's clean out friends and be free!!!!
God bless <3 Lorraine
