I didn’t get around to that post I promised a few days ago. I’m at the beginning of my third trimester, and starting to slow down I think. Sleeping all the way through the night is a memory now as I trek to the bathroom every couple of hours. The lack of sleep, I think, is starting to affect my energy levels.
Today, however, was a productive one. DH and I spent the majority of our time de-cluttering. I was starting to feel as if the house and our many things were beginning to take over. I threw away a lot of stuff and tried to negotiate the sale/donation of some larger unnecessary items with my husband (though I admit with little success). I have long felt the need to throw off some of the worldly weight that seems to steal time and space from me, but the inspiration I needed to act has come from that book I mentioned before, Better Off. Reading this “experiment” of a young couple living a life of minimal technology and no electricity has given definition to a feeling of dissatisfaction that has grown in me over the past couple of years. I have long felt “robbed” by the technology of computers and television (who hasn’t lamented the time “wasted” on these devices?), but I never stopped to consider how thoughtlessly I have accepted, used, depended on many other devices that have in turn taken more from me in the way of community, time, sense of purpose, mental agility, and physical strength than they could ever make up for in their attempt to “save labor”.
Now, granted, de-cluttering is hardly a leap toward simple living. It is more like an inching, a mere baby step toward controlling these “things” that I have unthinkly allowed to take control in my life. Perhaps a bigger step could have been take, but I am not the only one whose sensibilities need be considered. My husband’s help today was an act of pure sacrificial love on his part. He would rather not part with anything if he can help it. So for him, it was a stretching. It is good that we balance each other. I am libel to throw out too much and then regret it, and he is apt to keep everything until we can’t find eachother or the children amid the mess. I am sure our path to a simpler way of life will have to be carefully navigated if we are both to come out as winners. For now, all I’m asking is for some clean countertop space.
That sounds like a *very* interesting book! My husband and I are just like you two. I love to declutter. In fact, too much “stuff” makes me feel anxious and claustrophobic (probably all the children’s toys in my living room don’t help). My husband is more of a pack rat, though he is coming around. It was one of the few areas that caused stress in our marriage early on.
Well, you’ve probably heard David or me talking about purging. We try to do it at least every 3 months. We’ve learned a new rule of thumb from somewhere. There are 3 rules, if you don’t either need it or love it, or if it doesn’t make you money – get rid of it. I have a feeling though your husband would find a lot of things he loves as a way not to part with them. I’m proud of him though to let go of somethings. My mom’s a packrat. I’d hate to see her attic.
I loved that book! I have tried to turn everything off at least in the room I am in. One night when I was reading (kids in bed, DH gone), and there was a sound that was driving me crazy. It was so loud! I knew I’d made progress because it was my computer running that was “so loud”!!
Dena