pursuing minimalism

COMFORTABLY UNCOMFORTABLE ROUTINES

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Hello friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about my everyday routines. Not to enumerate what my routines are – I do have plenty of routine videos on my YouTube channel if you are interested. But more so to talk about how I stick to my routines day in and day out and how I add new healthy habits to my routines. 

So I have a secret I wanted to share with you about how I stick to my routines. I have joked in the past that there is no secret to staying healthy. The truth is there is no MAGIC PILL, there is no easy way out of change and growth other than doing the work day in and day out. BUT, there is a secret to getting it done. That secret is to feel comfortable with the uncomfortable. What I mean by this is that I actually feel uncomfortable when I don’t follow through with my everyday routines. Some routines I even stick to while I’m on vacation! I know that if I don’t drink water and walk first thing in the morning, read my Bible and pray, or exercise each day, it will make me feel uncomfortable. I am only comfortable when I follow through on these uncomfortable routines!

I just recently incorporated walking first thing in the morning, and I have noticed if I don’t do that I don’t sleep as well that night. If I don’t read my Bible and pray, I don’t feel as grounded and it’s more difficult to manage the struggles of life or the emotions I’m experiencing. If I don’t exercise, I am more likely to feel down and unmotivated. Following through on these daily healthy habits becomes easier when you over and over again experience the long term benefits of the routines. This doesn’t mean that I’m perfect. Some days, for whatever reason my routines may get interrupted – whether that is because of vacation, illness, or some extra activities or events in life. But the key is that you get right back to the routines even after they have been interrupted because you are comfortable with the routines.

It is difficult to incorporate a new healthy routine or cut out an unhealthy habit, but that is when you need to press into consistency to get to a place where it feels more comfortable to follow through on the routine than not. THAT is the secret: to get to a place where you are comfortable with the uncomfortable routine.

I have talked before about the idea of a maintenance mindset over a completion mindset. This is the idea that these everyday habits are not something where there is an end goal, but instead these habits are just a part of the maintenance of your life. When we learn to accept that, we are more likely to live in the moment and to just enjoy these routines even if they are uncomfortable or hard. When we have this mindset that these routines help us to learn, grow, and become better versions of ourselves, then it’s easier to enjoy these things fully. Focus on how blessed you are if you are able to walk or workout. If you have clean drinking water. If you are able to read. All of these things are blessings that not everyone in the world can enjoy.

A lot of healthy habits are not easy to do and therefore not easy to maintain, but if we have this mindset that we feel more comfortable when we do these uncomfortable routines, we are more likely to have follow through!

The YouTube video I posted in conjunction with this blog post.

DEALING WITH PERFECTIONISM

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Okay friends, this is the last Thursday of the month and I had been sharing a monthly recap on how my no buy year was going for that month on the last Thursday, however last month I ended up sharing late. I have decided I will wait until the last Thursday in October to recap and then we will be back on track for sharing the last week of the month! But, I will share a teaser and say I am still really struggling. And because of that I wanted to talk about an adjacent topic this week – perfectionism. I am sure I have talked about the topic of perfectionism before. If not the main topic, I know I have talked about my struggles with perfectionism and how I really like to call myself a recovering perfectionist because I have been a lot better over the past several years at giving myself grace when I’m not as disciplined as I would have liked to have been.

Over the years I have shared here on my YouTube channel a variety of different challenges I have put myself up to. I actually used to have a series on my channel where each month I chose a different challenge and shared my thoughts on how the challenge went. I think challenging myself outside of my comfort zone is a good thing. And some of the challenges have led to some long term healthy habits. But these challenges, like the no buy year, I think can lend itself to falling back into the perfectionism trap. While I think challenges can be good for setting a framework for eliminating bad habits or incorporating new good habits, it can also cause me to focus too much on behavior. What I mean by this is that sometimes just changing behavior isn’t enough. Changing the behavior doesn’t necessarily mean a change in my heart. Choosing to do the no buy year for me isn’t necessarily just about saving money, although that is a really nice side effect and I think it’s always good to be intentional with how I am spending. For me, it was more about changing my heart posture towards stuff. I don’t want stuff to be so important to me. The important things in life are relationships, experiences, and striving to make a difference in this world somehow.

Yes, it’s good to change the behavior, but the last part of this no buy year I want to focus on changing my heart posture. By just focusing on changing the behavior, that puts me back into a perfectionist mentality, where I am WORKING so hard to just do the right thing. I have struggled with this throughout my life. Just striving and striving and never feeling enough. But I really feel I have turned a corner with that over the last few years, like I mentioned, giving myself more grace, realizing I am human and I can’t always be perfect, realizing I am ENOUGH.

There is this verse in the Bible in Romans 7:15 that says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” In that passage it goes on to say that basically we all have that struggle because we all are not perfect. I try to remind myself that everyone struggles with this very thing. We all struggle to consistently do the things that are healthy for us and not do the things that are not healthy for us! All it means is that I am human.

Lately because of the lovely stage of life I am in… good ole’ perimenopause, which is causing my hormones to be out of whack, which is causing me to feel out of whack, I have really been trying to focus on healthy habits. I have been walking every morning first thing – moving, getting sunlight, I have been lifting weights, taking all the supplements, eating all the protein, staying away from sugar and alcohol. Doing ALL THE THINGS. And some days I still don’t feel myself. I have really been struggling more lately with this perfectionist mentality where I feel like I have to do ALL THE THINGS, EVERY DAY! I am trying to leave room for grace, but it has been a struggle. So, if you are struggling – with perfectionism, with messed up hormones, with no motivation, with giving in to your temptations because you feel like you cannot do it all ONE MORE DAY… you are not alone!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR AUGUST RECAP

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to share with you how my no buy year has been going for my August recap. I know I am a bit late in sharing my August recap! The short story is I failed AGAIN! Y’all. For whatever reason it is really hard to go 365 days without buying any clothes! Once again my failure was with clothing. This is solidifying the fact that my biggest struggle when it comes to shopping is clothing. I did purchase 2 pairs of jeans, once again because they were on sale and once again 2 pairs in order to get free shipping!! Tell me, do you add more items to get free shipping or is it just me?? The other thing I purchased, which honestly can’t decide if it’s a fail, is a new pair of shoes that I can wear in the water. The water sandals that I had I recently wore to a water park all day and I had horrible blisters. I think it’s because I have had them for so long the material, which is like a shoe string type material, got messed up to where I couldn’t un-tighten the string material from the bottom of the sandals. So, really I am just replacing something that was worn out.

The good news is that I have become more self aware with my feelings or state of mind when I was tempted to buy something. I talked about this last month, but once again I purchased those jeans when I was feeling down, basically like I needed a dopamine hit. I guess I am still struggling to turn to more positive avenues to get that dopamine. I am working on more positive habits to raise my overall mood. Mid-way through August I decided to start walking first thing in the morning before my morning coffee to get my blood flowing and to get sun on my face first thing. I do feel like it is generally helping with my mood! I am trying to give myself grace though. After these 2 more items, that comes to a total of 6 items for the year! That is less than one item of clothing per month! Even if you count the sandals, bringing it to 7 items, that is still less than one item per month. Speaking of the sandals, the difference I could tell with the sandals versus the jeans is that I didn’t do it to get a dopamine hit to feel better. I purchased them to replace something that was no longer working for me. This is why I’m on the fence as to whether the sandals constituted a fail.

Okay, now let’s move on to talking about the wins this month! I always decorate for fall at the end of August, so I have already decorated for fall and I did not purchase any new fall decor! Not even a candle! When I was decorating my fall porch, I really could have purchased a new door mat because ours is not in great shape. And the layering mat under our door mat is really no longer my style, but I decided to go with it anyway and not purchase anything new. In addition to that, I really could use some sort of greenery or foliage for the large planter on our front porch, but once again I made what we had work!

I was not at all tempted to purchase new home decor for the inside of our home, however I did contemplate buying a fall candle because I currently only have two scented candles and neither one is a fall scent. I decided to just use the one I got last year for Christmas and I will leave it out all fall and then into the holiday season. If I burn it out before the holiday season is over I will purchase another one.

There was something I wanted to chat about concerning this topic of fall decor and fall candles. There is nothing wrong with buying new decor for fall, BUT I did want to encourage you that you don’t HAVE to buy new decor and candles for fall! I feel like being exposed to social media and influencers, we are sold this idea that in order to get into the fall vibes we must purchase new things. Like part of getting into the fall feelings is going out and shopping. Experiencing fall doesn’t have to include shopping. Bringing fall feelings into our home can come through styling the fall decor we already have on hand, burning candles, baking fall treats, wrapping up in a cozy blanket in the evening with low lights on, or making yourself a fall inspired drink. Some YouTube videos or Instagram Reels that are fall inspired are centered around shopping, so I just wanted to remind you that those fall feelings can come from other sources than shopping! I have found that I have had to get more creative with what I already have on hand, and to me that is more fun!

Well friends, that is all I have to share for this Thoughtful Thursday! I hope it was encouraging or inspiring! I always like to hear your thoughts on my thoughts, so let me know down in the comments!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

HONOR YOUR LIMITS

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday topic I wanted to talk about honoring your limits. I think this is something that is very difficult to do these days. It’s so easy to over-schedule or just spend more time than intended on scrolling or binge watching media.

For those of you who don’t know, I do have a YouTube channel and I always share these thoughts over on my channel in a video. I coincidentally had it on my schedule to share on this topic prior to filming the “day in the life” video I shared this week, but it turned out to be such an appropriate topic on this day. I had a lot that I needed to get done on this day, so I actually didn’t film a lot of active things. I just had a lot of chatty footage. I had planned on cleaning out my laundry room on this day so I would have more cleaning motivation other than the few clips cleaning my dining and living rooms, but I honored my limits and scratched the laundry room off my to-do list for the day!

We all have our limits. Each of us has a different bandwidth to manage responsibilities in life. Some of us need more down time and margin in life, and others can go, go, go! I think it can be difficult sometimes for those of us who have less bandwidth in this age of social media and seeing what other people are doing with their lives and their time. But honestly, so often what we see on social media is curated and may not be the full picture. We must honor our limits so we don’t risk getting burnt out.

I do think there are times we need to and can push ourselves a little more than usual, as long as we can schedule in rest afterwards. There are times where we have to push because of extenuating circumstances, like going on vacation, celebrating birthdays or other holidays, moving, or other situations that are not our usual day to day. The day I filmed this DITL was especially busy for me because the next day I was going to take the day off to go with my girlfriends to a mineral springs spa near Austin, so I wouldn’t be able to get any work done that day. Honestly, this whole week was busy as I was also trying to catch up after being down a couple of days for my routine colonoscopy a couple weeks ago.

This was taken at the Mineral Springs Spa my girlfriends and I went to! Ottine Mineral Springs.

We all have physical limits, and must pay attention to our bodies’ cues to slow down. But we also have relational and emotional limits as well. If you are someone who is an introvert, you will need more time alone to recharge, and that is okay! But you need to honor those limits and realize when you need to recharge. For some people, they can manage several friendships and relationships in general, while others feel more comfortable with just a few close friends. Once again, that is okay! 

Something similar to managing relationships is honoring your emotional bandwidth. Just like some of us have a bigger capacity to manage relationships, some of us have a bigger capacity to manage emotional input. If you find yourself constantly drained by certain people, content, or any input in general, you need to evaluate that to determine if it is something that is pushing your emotional limits. It’s okay to step back or even away from a relationship for a time if that person is taking too much of your emotional energy. It’s okay to unfollow and quit watching content that drains you emotionally. It is not always easy to determine if someone or something is too much for you emotionally, but we must be aware of our emotional bandwidth.

We all have daily responsibilities as adults, so we must evaluate those responsibilities. Are there things that are not as important or urgent that you can eliminate from your list on a given day that you don’t feel you have the bandwidth to carry out? Or can you delegate some of your responsibilities to someone else? Can your spouse, children, or a friend help you with something that needs to get done? I have found it helpful for me to structure my day with the non-negotiables at the front part of the day, then if I still have energy and time I will tackle some of those other things on the list.

It’s not always easy to honor our limits, but in the long run it is good to be aware of our limits and do what we can to honor them. Since I was honoring my own limits and didn’t film that laundry room clean, the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this post is pretty chatty! So if you like that type of content like you’re on a Facetime call with me, go check out that video {{linked above}}! And at the end of that video I share some footage from my day at the mineral springs spa!

THE BENEFITS OF SLOW DECLUTTERING

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about something that might not be a popular or trending idea with regards to decluttering. I wanted to encourage you that it is okay to declutter slowly, over time. It seems in the decluttering genre online, there is a lot of content around decluttering quickly. I see titles like “I decluttered 90% of my possessions in one day.” Or “Follow these easy steps to declutter quickly.” I think it is common in our culture today to want things done quickly and easily, but the most lasting and sustainable results will come from putting in the work. There is no magic pill, no shortcuts! You have to put in the reps!

There are several reasons why I think decluttering slowly could be more beneficial than decluttering quickly. The first reason is just a practical one: time. We all only have so much time in a day. Many of us have full and busy lives and don’t have large chunks of time to set aside to declutter. It is much easier to declutter a little bit at a time. If we just set aside even 10-15 minutes a week to declutter, we are more likely to get it done because that feels more manageable than spending half the day decluttering.

Another reason it is good to declutter slowly is the reality of decision fatigue. Just like we only have so much time in a day, we each only have so much brain bandwidth to make decisions. I’m sure we have all experienced days where we were exhausted just from all the little decisions (or big ones) we were making all day long. When decluttering a lot of items at once, that is obviously a lot of decisions. At some point we reach a place where our decisions aren’t as clear or confident as they were at the beginning of the day. When we declutter a little at a time, we give our brains time to rest. 

Adjacent to this idea that our decisions might not be as sharp when we declutter quickly is we are less likely to replace the stuff we decluttered when we declutter slowly. Our decisions are more informed and it gives us time to really determine what we are loving and using. Sometimes when we declutter quickly, we have regrets about some of the things we let go of and then we want to replace them. Not only is this is a waste of money, but also is not eco-friendly as some of those items may have ended up in a landfill. On the other hand, we may just feel the need to fill up our spaces when we declutter a lot at once. It can be a shock to go from having a lot of possessions to little possessions, and this could fuel a desire to purchase more.

Lastly, decluttering slowly builds decluttering muscles in a more sustainable way so that regular decluttering becomes a habit. Decluttering slowly gives you time to really learn the skill of decluttering. It gives you time to evaluate what you really use and love.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a place for decluttering large quantities at once. Maybe you are moving and need to declutter a lot at once, maybe a loved one has passed away and you need to go through their things and declutter a lot. My point here is that for the average home, it might serve you better to declutter slowly over time.

If you follow me on YouTube, you might have noticed I KEEP DECLUTTERING on my channel. I really thought I had gotten to a good homeostasis point, but I realize it is just because I am decluttering slowly that I am still going. Even with doing a no buy year and bringing less into my home this year, I am still finding things to declutter. I’m finding things over time that I realize I thought I used or I thought I really loved, but in reality I don’t. I have kind of wondered if maybe not bringing things into my home has given me the time, brain bandwidth, and awareness of my stuff to make more ruthless decisions! This is also a reminder that it may take several passes in each area of your home, so keep decluttering!

The video I shared on YouTube in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR JULY RECAP

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Okay friends, this is the last Thursday of the month, so that means I’m sharing my thoughts on how my no buy year has been going so far and for this month. I didn’t share a post in June because things were just kind of going along smoothly and there really wasn’t much to share. I think it helped that I had two get-aways during that month – one to celebrate my husband’s birthday and then another to visit friends in Tucson, and so I think I was distracted from being tempted by buying things. With that said, I will say right up front that I failed AGAIN this month! I will share more about the details and also talk about why I think this month was so hard for me.

I shared in May that I purchased a couple items of clothing, so I felt like I failed in May. Although I was able to somewhat make the excuse that I purchased the items for my trip to Tucson. I didn’t have a caveat for trips in my rules because I didn’t even know I was going to plan that trip. Well, once again I purchased a couple of items of clothing. One was a skirt that was very similar to a skirt I borrowed from my daughter and really loved! And I decided to purchase a second item to get free shipping – now that’s just being wise with my money right?? But the only justification I have for this purchase is that the skirt was on sale and that really got me. Also, I purchased it from a boutique where they don’t restock items. Once they sell out it’s gone. I knew I would like it because I loved my daughter’s skirt. But I still consider this a fail for me for this month. I will say, the further I get into the year, the more difficult it becomes to stick to my rules.

I don’t want to make excuses as to why I cheated this month. I will take full ownership that I failed. One lesson I have learned in life (that is still hard for me as a recovering perfectionist) is that failure isn’t all that bad. Failure leads to learning and growth, that is if we allow it to. I always like to evaluate my failures so I can make better choices moving forward and so I can see the lesson in it. This month has been tough for me. There have been lots of changes happening, most of them are good changes but it’s difficult for me to deal with change. I have backed off on posting on YouTube as I have decided to pursue growing my organizing business again, and while this is a good thing, it is a change. There are a couple of other things going on in my personal life that are also creating changes, but again all good things! With these changes, it has caused my anxiety to spike and my overthinking and rumination to move into high gear. As I have mentioned before, shopping is definitely one of those vices I run to when I am feeling stressed. All month long I have struggled with looking at clothes online – walking right into the place of temptation – instead of choosing healthier ways to handle my stress. So the lesson learned is that I need to not mindlessly do things, but to be aware of when I am feeling that stress, or at least aware when I am starting to run back to familiar places for comfort.

One of the reasons I did a no buy year was in order to really deal with this habit I have of shopping to feel better or to alleviate stress. So I must be more on guard and aware of those moments so I can choose a healthier option for dealing with my stress. This is a difficult thing for me because I do tend towards perfectionism… can we really always make good and healthy choices, or is there a balance in there? Let me know your input down in the comments.

I did want to share a win with you today! Last week I went into Home Goods to look for some coffee syrup. Random side note here, but this is a great place to find coffee syrups at a discounted price! But I noticed while I was there, that I was not at all tempted to look through home decor, blankets, or pillows. While in the past I might have been tempted to look, this time I was not and it was quite the contrary… instead I really was repulsed by the idea of bringing more things home. I don’t know why I don’t feel this way about clothes yet! Make it make sense! BUT, back to my trip to Home Goods. I was browsing through the food, and then I went to the section with organizing tools, just to see what kinds of things are available in case this is somewhere I might want to shop for clients. This was on a Sunday, so the place was packed. People everywhere pushing carts full of stuff. I couldn’t help but feel like I had taken the proverbial “red pill” (IYKYK) and was aware of the truth. The truth that none of this stuff would make you happy. As a matter of fact, once you walk away with your purchase the dopamine hit is done. Did you know that dopamine is released during the actual shopping part – it’s the thrill of the hunt, which is human nature. But shopping is short-form dopamine, meaning that up feeling won’t last long. And then you are left with this item or these items that you now need to take care of – clean, organize, and maybe one day make a decision about decluttering it. It’s a silly cycle that happens if you think about it. You want that dopamine rush so you shop, but once you purchase it and bring it home that rush is over, then you declutter to make space for more stuff. I want off this crazy merry-go-round! Not that I will never buy things again, but it’s just good to be aware of all of this! And we work hard to make this money that we are basically using to buy stuff that we often don’t need and it creates more work for us!

Okay my friends, that is all I have to share for this month’s no buy year recap. As always, I love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts so let me know down in the comments.

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

QUIT MAKING EXCUSES

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Hey friends! I know it’s been a while since I posted here! Life has been busy, and it is just now slowing down! For today’s Thoughtful Thursday topic I wanted to encourage you to quit making excuses. Please know that when I tackle topics like this that sound a little judgy – I am talking to myself too. I have said this before: these posts are just as much to encourage me as it is to encourage you!

I think it is human nature to make excuses for why we don’t do certain things or why we do certain things in life. It helps us to feel better about ourselves and our choices. We rationalize to comfort us when we fall short, and to protect our egos from failure. But one thing I have noticed for myself is that it can be helpful to be an observer of your thoughts (or even what you say) to really determine if you truly are living authentically, or if you are just making excuses to not do things that could help you to learn and grow. I’ll give you an example. I want to read more. I have been wanting to read more for years. Yet when I talk to people about wanting to read more, I tend to immediately make excuses for why I don’t read more. I blame my high energy and how it’s hard for me to sit still, my perimenopause induced ADHD which causes a lack of focus, or how I feel unproductive when I just sit and read. The truth is, I lack the discipline to make reading a more regular part of my routines. It would be one thing if I just accepted that I don’t have the discipline, but instead I make excuses so I don’t feel bad about myself.

Excuses often stem from fear – fear of failure, fear of judgement, or fear of change. When someone says, “I don’t have time to do this or that” what they actually mean is that they don’t want to prioritize it. When someone says, “I’m just not good at this or that” they really mean they don’t want to put in the effort to try that thing and/or they don’t want to risk failure. Excuses can come from a place of victim mentality. We may believe that our circumstances dictate our success or failure. While it’s true that we may have challenges or injustices in our lives, blaming others or our circumstances strips us of our autonomy and the belief that we have the power to change our circumstances.

Making excuses may protect our ego in the short term, but in the long term it sabotages our goals. Excuses prevent us from learning and growing. It can also diminish our self respect. Deep down we may know that we are not being authentic. This inner conflict can lead to anxiety, low self esteem, and lack of motivation. The more someone hides behind excuses, the more they drift from who they truly want to be. When we choose to quit making excuses, it doesn’t deny that life can be hard or that things are not always in your control. It means that while you can’t control everything, you can control your response to things. Taking responsibility instead of making excuses shifts the focus to what you can do instead of what you can’t do.

I have said this phrase so many times: you choose your hard. We often make excuses for why we are not doing the hard thing. But doing the hard thing up front makes the long term easier or at least more enjoyable. Often it’s when we don’t do the hard thing and we make excuses as to why we are not doing the hard thing, that later things actually become more difficult.

Excuses are easy, but progress is hard. If you want to live a life of purpose, achievement, and growth you have to quit making excuses. Stop blaming, stop delaying, and stop doubting. Take responsibility for your choices, your mindset, and your future. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s always worth it. Because the moment you stop making excuses is the moment you start making progress.

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR MAY RECAP

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

It is the last Thursday of the month, so that means I am sharing with you my recap for the month of May in my no buy year. And y’all, it was a rough one! I’ve definitely been struggling more as the year progresses. So, I would call the month of May a failure month! I did purchase a few items of clothing this month. Some my conscience could justify, but others I could not really justify. I mean, I have excuses but I felt like it was a failure. As with anything in life, when we fail, the important thing is not that we DID fail, but it’s how you handle the failure. It’s easy to give up when you have a failure. But I think it is important to just keep moving forward with your goals. So, you hit a bump in the road – that is not a reason to give up completely.

Okay, so I’m sure you want to know the details, right? Or maybe I just feel the need to share the details so I can tell you all the reasons why I failed so I feel a little more justified. My first failure was something that I was able to talk myself into being okay. For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, I did go to the Malibu Barbie cafe here in Austin with a couple of friends. We were going to all wear pink, as you do to a Barbie cafe. I only own two pink shirts and both of them are very muted pink, not very Barbie like. So I decided I would go thrift an outfit for this occasion. One thing I didn’t think of with regards to the no buy year is different occasions that would come up that would require me (or that I would want to) buy clothes for. I did feel better that I was thrifting the clothes. 

So right when I walked into Savers, on the first rack in the front, which was a sale rack, I found a bright pink Barbie shirt! Part of me thought this is perfect. I should just go with this. But did I do that?? No. I thought it would likely work, but I wanted to look for other options. I had in my head an idea of what I wanted. I was thinking of a pink crop top or camisole type top to wear with a skirt. I found a couple of other pink shirts that might have worked, so I grabbed those. Since you can only do exchanges at Savers I decided whatever I didn’t use I could give my daughter to exchange for whatever she wanted because she loves thrifting. I also came across a top that I really loved and it was a good brand in good condition, but also a top I thought my daughter would like so I purchased that as well, although I did end up giving it to my daughter. ALSO, while I was looking in the intimates section for a camisole I came across this slip skirt (really just a slip, but a popular look for skirts right now). It looks very similar to a skirt my daughter has that I have borrowed from her in the past and really love! At the moment I justified purchasing it because I thought I could wear it with one of the tops for the Barbie cafe, but in reality I know I just wanted it! The fact that it cost $7 made it even more difficult to pass up!! I did end up wearing the Barbie shirt, but with a different skirt. I gave the other two shirts to my daughter along with the receipt so she could exchange them for whatever she wanted. I could justify the Barbie shirt, but also buying the skirt I view as a failure for this month. Although, speaking of events – I am going to a concert this week with a friend to see my favorite band perform and I plan on wearing that skirt! Does that justify it??  Probably not, but I like to pretend that it does.

BUT WAIT, there’s more! I will be going to Tucson at the end of June to meet up with some YouTube friends, and I found a couple of things online that I wanted for that trip. Once again, I didn’t make any exceptions for this trip because I actually didn’t know I was going until after the year started. I consider this a failure as well though because I know I didn’t really NEED anything new for this trip. I just WANTED something new. Let me know if you are the type who buys new clothes for trips! But I think the reality is, I am just struggling as the year progresses. I’m finding it more difficult to resist the temptation to buy things. I also think that it is a slippery slope, and this is true for anything in life. When we give into our temptations, I feel like it makes it easier to say yes the next time. Perhaps that is what was happening for me after purchasing the skirt, my inhibitions were lowered.

This is the skirt I purchased at Savers.

Lastly, I did purchase a rug and drapes for my kitchen nook makeover. At first I did not feel like this was a failure because it’s not exactly home decor. But after talking it through with friends, I realized that I was maybe just shifting my spending to items for a makeover instead of clothes or home decor. Which now we know isn’t fully the case since I also purchased clothes this month! I did also want to purchase some dining chairs for the space, but I will not be purchasing those for now. But stay tuned to see that makeover video hopefully coming up this month!

Whenever we get derailed from our goals, all we can do is start over the next day. I failed this month, but I’m going to get back at it starting today! If you want to continue to follow my progress be sure to follow my blog!

The YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

DEALING WITH BAGGAGE

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

So for today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about baggage. I thought this was an appropriate topic since I recently returned from a trip. As I was walking through the airport with my carry-on rolling bag, my computer bag, and my purse, I was thinking about what a great analogy it was to mental and emotional baggage that we carry around with us. I saw this gentleman on one of my flights and all he had was his phone and a reader tablet. I thought to myself how nice that must be to have so little to manage while traveling. That’s when I got to thinking about how this mimics mental and emotional baggage. How much easier, or lighter, it must feel to walk through life with little baggage.

I actually talked about this idea last fall while preparing to go on a trip. I can link that post here. But I wanted to flesh out a couple of different ideas regarding this analogy of physical and mental/emotional baggage. One thing that struck me on this trip was how much easier it was for me to maneuver my bags through the airport and on the plane (lifting them into the overhead compartment.) I realized my muscles have gotten stronger since last fall with the consistent weight lifting I have been doing. I realized when we deal with difficult circumstances in life and process our feelings around them, “carrying” this baggage gets easier. It doesn’t feel as cumbersome when our emotional muscles are stronger.

The other thing that struck me on this trip is the importance of help or having a community around you when you are dealing with heavy or difficult circumstances. Yes, even strangers have helped me in the past with lifting my bag into the overhead compartment, but my son came with me on this trip and I realized it was nice for one of us to sit in the airport with the bags while the other one went to the restroom, or went to get food or a coffee. It was nice to have someone take the load for a while. It reminded me of the importance of friends and family in life to help us with our mental and emotional load.

The other thing I thought about regarding baggage, is how maybe everything I brought was not necessary. To be fair, I did use everything other than one workout t-shirt, but for the sake of this analogy, I think it’s good to evaluate what mental and emotional baggage we are carrying around and what we could declutter. Y’all know I’m all about decluttering and living with less as I pursue becoming a minimalist. And I can assure you that it takes time! Especially if it’s baggage you’ve been carrying around for a long time and it has accumulated. I have been decluttering and working on minimizing our possessions for many years now! And if you regularly watch my YouTube channel you know that is ongoing! AND, not only do I have to deal with past stuff that has accumulated (like our past emotional baggage) but also deal with the day to day maintenance. We constantly have to deal with things coming into and going out of our homes. Mental and emotional baggage is the same way. We daily have to deal with relational interactions and continual self discovery and growth. It is a constant process.

Recognizing our mental and emotional baggage as something that needs to be “gone through” and processed is the start. Acknowledgment is always the biggest step we can take. And then being aware that it will be a process and not an overnight fix or change!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR APRIL RECAP

/ OrganizedWithJoy / 2 Comments

Okay friends, this is the last Thursday of the month, so I am sharing my recap of how my no buy year has been going for the month of April! I will say right up front that I have continued to have success! Although I will mention again this month that I wonder if I made this too easy for myself.

So the big test this month was going thrift shopping with my son in Portland. There was a skirt that I saw in one of the thrift stores that I was tempted to try on, but I bypassed it! I did buy several things for my son while we were out shopping while I was there. I even bought some things for his cat too cuz I have a grandcat after all! And her new collar and harness look adorable on her! At one point I was processing with him and I said, you know I wonder if buying you things is giving me that same dopamine hit feeling I get when I buy something for myself. I said it in a joking way, laughing, but there might be more truth to that than I would like to admit. Although it is okay to buy gifts for others within my rules, I’m still wondering about what I was processing last month – where it is still a heart issue for me. Even though I am staying within my rules, I still have this desire to purchase stuff.

I will say though, in addition to the skirt I saw at the thrift shop, I have seen other things online that I was interested in purchasing but I refrained and scrolled past! Clothes are definitely still my biggest temptation! But I really want to learn to keep the spending to a minimum after my no buy year is over because I am still trying to figure out a way to minimize my wardrobe!

And speaking of my wardrobe, I did want to share about my minimalist closet challenge that I was doing in the month of April. I honestly feel like I could have removed even more from my closet for this challenge in hindsight! My plan is to go through the items that I put in my husband’s office closet and see if there is anything I can declutter, then I am going to remove even more from my main closet for the month of May. One thing I did notice is that packing for my trip to Portland seemed much easier than packing had in the past. It might be in part because I have traveled quite a bit over the last couple of years so I am getting to be a pro at packing, but I think it really was also just not having as much to choose from. Which just makes sense!

Honestly this month I didn’t really have any big revelations. I think I am just continuing to see the value in spending money on experiences over stuff. Like I mentioned, I have traveled quite a bit over the last couple of years and it just makes me appreciate those travel experiences. Not only are those life-long memories but I have no physical thing to manage and take care of and one day make a decision about decluttering. For my son’s birthday we went out for a really nice steak dinner at this restaurant in Portland, Portland City Grill. Not only was the food fantastic, but it is located on the 30th floor of a building downtown with beautiful 360 views. I would much rather spend money on an experience and food like that than to have something tangible.

That is all I have to share for the month of April with regards to my no buy year! I am considering reevaluating my rules as I do feel like maybe I was not strict enough with myself. I see to be having no problems with refraining from spending within the rules I had set up for myself! I will keep you posted! Stay tuned for next month’s recap!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post!