Studies have shown that parental stress depletes their immune systems, weakens children’s brains, and increases their risk of obesity and mental illness just to name a few.īecoming a minimalist family helps you and your kids let go of the things creating undue stress in your family’s lives. The kids’ number one wish was that their parents were less tired and less stressed. In a survey of a thousand families, Ellen Galinsky, the head of the Families and Work Institute, asked children, “If you were granted one wish about your parents, what would it be?” Most parents thought their kids would say spending more time with them, but they were wrong. Minimalism is for everyone, for families: small families, large families, especially for families.įamilies need minimalism too. Minimalism isn’t just reserved for the single, the college student, the baby boomers, and people who seem to live a less complicated life than you do. When your family is living in the land of tired-busy-and-overwhelmed, the first step is almost always less. Clutter is anything-good, bad, or indifferent-that distracts you from a more meaningful and intentional life. Overwhelm.Ĭlutter takes many forms-it finds its way onto our calendars and to-do lists, it leads us to Pinterest perfection, fear of missing out, mindless scrolling, and constant discontent. Clutter is anything that does not support your better self.” Clutter. It’s old ideas, toxic relationships, and bad habits. But I was learning, as Eleanor Brownn once said, “Clutter is not just physical stuff. Hadn’t I gotten rid of all my clutter? Indeed I had. In this stress and overwhelm, my desire for simplicity was born.Īt every opportunity, I peeled away the layers of my clutter-the broken stuff, the perfectly good stuff, and the sentimental stuff.Įventually, my useful things now all had a home with room to breathe! With an uncluttered home, I spent less time looking for and taking care of my things and more time doing things I love. It was during this move that the real cost of my clutter started becoming painfully obvious. Or in my case, until you try to put it in a box for the 10th time with kids in tow. “You never realize how much stuff you have until you try to put it in a box,” Allison Fallon once said. During one deployment to Africa, despite our careful planning, the kids and I were left alone to pack up and move everything while he was gone. I am definitely going to think about what adds value when we move and what doesn't.Seven years ago, my husband was in the military. They explain it really well here: After watching the documentary I can see the logic and value of living minimalist. It was up to the individual/couple to decide what possessions are valuable to them/add value to their lives, and what doesn't. There wasn't one-size fits all proposition at all. Each person interviewed in the movie that was a minimalist had varying number of possessions, and lived in different sized homes. I was very surprised about just how open-minded the notion was. I came across the documentary these two guys created (link below). I was looking through Netflix to see if there was anything good to watch (that wasn't too long). Maybe because I was in a different space in life and still living with my parents and hadn't lived by myself yet. At the time I didn't really think much of it or try to put it in action. I was very intrigued about what these two guys proposed regarding living.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |