For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I want to talk about an idea I recently heard about from another YouTube creator, normalizing a normal life. I follow her channel because she does a lot of reaction videos to overconsumption, especially amongst influencers. As many of you know, I am doing a no buy year in 2025 as a way to challenge myself to prevent overconsumption in my own life. I think when we are constantly exposed to content online where people are showing shopping hauls or restocks (often with unnecessary stuff, or stuff you could not possibly use before the expiration date), we begin to think overconsumption is just normal. We also are exposed to people who seem to lead out of touch lives. I get that some of these videos are purposefully overproduced, but it really can get in your head none the less!

In addition to my no buy year, I have been pursuing minimalism for over a decade now, slowly but surely decluttering our home. And more recently I do feel like I have gotten pretty ruthless with decluttering in the pursuit of a more simple life. In today’s message I just wanted to encourage you that it is okay to lead a simple life. It’s okay to have a normal life. I truly believe that there is beauty in the mundane if we allow it or see it.

Part of the reason I wanted to discuss this topic now is because as we come up on the holidays, we may feel more inadequate than any other time in the year. We may feel like we aren’t doing enough family activities, or we don’t have enough holiday decor, or the right decor. I’m here to remind you that you don’t need to go out and buy all new holiday decor with the theme of the latest trend (cough cough Ralph Lauren Christmas cough cough). I do love to share my holiday clean and decorate with me videos on YouTube to inspire people, but I never do it with the intent that they would go out and buy the same things I have. I just want to get people excited about the upcoming holiday season! And most of my stuff I couldn’t link if I wanted to because I have had it for many years, or it is a vintage or thrift find! The holiday decor you have is good enough! One thing I like to do is style my existing decor differently every year so it feels fresh and new!

I have always tried to be authentic on my YouTube channel, and share as candidly as I can here on my blog. Yes, I do like to edit and present it in such a way that hopefully is artistic and interesting, but I am sharing my real (and normal) life! I do wish normal lives were more popular on social media. It does seem like the easiest way to become successful online is to have a non-normal life. Maybe a normal life is not interesting or exciting, but I’m okay with that. I will continue to pursue a simple, quiet life. I think a majority of people in the world lead a normal life, so I am just here to remind you that it is okay if your life feels normal or ordinary. Don’t let what you see on social media steal the joy of your beautiful, normal life! Embrace it and appreciate it!