Liberate Your Life by Focusing on Simplicity

When our family downsized in February to a much smaller and more manageable home, we also found new homes for at least half of our belongings. All five of us really examined the things we owned, considered why it was we owned them, and if we really needed to keep them in our lives. It brought a lot of clarity and satisfaction to the household. It was like starting a new chapter with a clear mind, clean closets, and a lot more space.

Because this experience was such a positive one, I have continued to stay aware of the items I buy and really try to limit those to essentials. I am also continuously deciding what additional “things” can stay and which can go. I recently read some excellent tips on Leo Babauta’s site ZenHabits, via a guest post by Barrie Davenport, in which she included some ideas about embracing simplicity.

She writes:

"When you think about your things or want to purchase something new, consider these parameters:

• It brings beauty into your life.
• It supports a passion or hobby.
• It helps bring family and friends together in a creative, meaningful way.
• It educates and enlightens.
• It makes life profoundly simpler so that you can pursue more meaningful things.
• It helps someone who is sick or incapacitated.
• It is useful and necessary for day-to-day life.

You will know you are buying mindlessly if you:

• Buy on a whim.
• Buy to impress others.
• Buy because you feel you deserve it.
• Buy when you can’t afford it.
• Buy just to update something that still works or looks fine.
• Buy because someone else has it and you want it too.
• Buy because the advertisement seduced you.
• Buy because you are bored.
• It’s purchased because buying soothes you."

I know that finding that balance is tricky and I am continuously working on these skills and reminding myself of these aforementioned ideas. But I can tell you that once I got over the idea that I NEEDED things and that owning material possessions was associated with success, it completely transformed the way that I saw the world.

The true value in my life became about the people, the experiences, and the memories I was making and not the stuff I was accumulating. In a society where we have been conditioned to believe that we need more items, more money, and more luxuries, it’s really liberating to step outside of that mindset and focus on simplicity.

Find happiness through the small pleasures and treasures in life.

Appreciate your moments and the people around you with whom you share them.

Find your own simplicity.

Art by snorf