Lasting Tidiness IS Possible
I have an unimpressively succinct but truthful phrase I always go back to: it’s never too late to return to a goal. Sometimes we interpret our failures as ‘signs’ that a dream was never meant to be, or that giving up is the only rational response. This logic is faulty- as is the belief that the only things that are “meant to be” are effortless. Goals can be resurrected; trial and error is a perfectly acceptable route to lasting tidiness.
Do not get discouraged when your attempts at tidiness fall short of getting the lasting results you want. Progress is gradual. Decluttering comes in stages until it becomes a way of life: it starts as a routine process of discarding needless clutter. Eventually our values shift, and we begin to let go of things that potentially serve a purpose, but are not essential to our present way of life. Ultimately, we become comfortable routinely parting with items that have more value out of the home than in it. These stages require different levels of energy from us: busy micro-seasons of life may induce a very natural feeling to “hoard” resources, while the urge to “spring clean” or “nest” are also naturally-occurring motivators for “letting go.”
The stages I described exist within these symptoms with an ebb-and-flow that may look a bit like “trail and error.” Once we reach the stage of comfort with letting go of useful nonessentials, we really start to notice how much quicker it is to ameliorate routine untidiness. The transformation of our mindset into a “minimalist” one begins to grow exponentially. We enter a room and no longer see clutter but calm. We gain clarity about the way our homes work and can determine what kind of storage, layout, and decor truly serve our lifestyles. The shift in our perspective works hand-in-hand with the restructuring of our values!
Follow me on Instagram for continuous tips and encouragement: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.minimalism
Join the Catholic Minimalist Facebook group to enjoy the support of fellow declutterers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/catholicmininalismcommunity
