Chaos in a bag

On a show that I watched recently, a woman turned to minimising her possessions to take control of her life. Post natal depression and left her feeling as though she didn't control her life. I can relate to that - I feel like my life controls me and drags me along for the ride. I try so hard to keep up with my life that I can’t stop to take a breath. 

This lady started her minimalist lifestyle by cleaning out her handbag. It was a small job that gave her a sense of accomplishment and by doing it, she felt like she achieved something. Eventually she did the whole house. They showed a picture of her house and it was amazing. She had young kids (as I do) and yet her house was tidy!

My house is not huge to say the least. It’s a 3 bedroom house and its pretty snug. Most of our cupboards are full to the point of overflowing and if you sneeze doors spring out and the cupboards overflow (Ok so that’s an exaggeration, but you get the point). The thing is, most of this stuff is just STUFF. They aren’t things we need. Do I seriously still need my high school graduation jersey?? That was almost twenty years ago! Do I need to keep those ugly retro wedge shoes in case they are useful for a costume party? Whilst costume parties were pretty regular for our group of friends in the past, I don’t think anyone has had one for a good five years now and we all have kids so noone is likely to have any raging parties worth dressing up for in the next fifteen years. Will I still have those damn shoes in fifteen years? Possibly - I mean they’ve been there for fifteen years or so already, what’s another fifteen?

So the next day i cleaned out my handbag. I found about 50 pens, multiple empty mini sultana boxes (kids!) and lots of crumbs (also kids???) a lot of napkins and an empty container that I use to transport crackers. Seriously gross stuff. 

Here’s the amazing thing. My handbag was literally lighter so I was carrying lighter baggage with me all day - literally and metaphorically.

The ultimate question though is can I keep it up?

What decluttering tips do you have? More importantly, how do you maintain the clutter once you have it under control?