A Slave to Our Things

Most of us complain about how much work it is to run a house and search and search for some magical formula to make it all work. We try system after system to organize all our things. The funny part is, there is a simple solution that requires no fancy system.... just stop being a slave to all the things we want to own.

Think about it, having a few well chosen "pretties" around the home would give you pleasure. Enjoyment at seeing them, but when there becomes many "pretties" around the house, we worry about dusting them, moving them, owning them, getting the next one that comes out, or seeing one prettier than what we have and soon they start to own us with the time and energy they require of us in one way or another. Even with furniture, we can have so many extra pieces that serve as eye candy only but require moving to clean behind, dusting and arranging a pretty setting on top, maybe even changing the setting for each season and holiday, which requires packing up and storing when the season or holiday is over.

Then look at the hobbies we might have, they require supplies and there is always something new and better to buy. All to often we end up storing an unfinished project or making more than we really need. More care and cleaning for us. I am not an advocate of a stripped down, naked house, but I also know first hand the joy of not having too much stuff around. Just today when washing my floors I took a serious look at what I really need in the living room. Do I need all the furniture we have, yes, I do. Do I need all the fancy little decorations....absolutely not. I love baskets so have about 8 in the living room here and there. I hardly notice the ones stored on the top shelves. The look nice, but they get dusty and I tend to avoid the work of dusting under them. After a while, they just don't hold the same thrill I got when I purchased them.
Does the top of the shelves look just as nice without them. Honestly, yes they do. The house takes on a more simplistic appeal with less around.

Same thing for children's toys. We had strict strict guidelines for toys. They had to be non-mechanical, no batteries and foster creativity. Each child had a shelf to store them on and a basket. Too many toys, meant time to weed out the ones no longer played with. It was far better to not have children overwhelmed with so many toys they felt hopeless when you ask them to pick them up.

Don't live in a house that is bigger than you need. That's pretty simple. Probably don't need 5 bathrooms for 2 people, that sort of thing.

Now onto the laundry thing. What do you wear in a week ? Do you really need a room for your clothes ? That's a lot of work to maintain. A well chosen wardrobe can be minimal if you choose carefully. Do you children need 13 pairs of jeans, doubtful. That can translate to a lot of washing since they can change a couple times a day ! I loved that when my family was growing up, we had a simple wardrobe. NEVER EVER could there be more than 8 loads of wash at our house, because we didn't own more than that. Everyone had two sets of sheets for their bed, that's all I have now. I have one tiny linen cabinet for towels. Everyone had about a weeks worth of undergarments and two pair of pajama's, and the girls and I had 5 everyday dresses and 2 church dresses. A weeks worth of socks. The boys and Emery had 7 shirts and 5 pair of pants. I washed at twice a week. No one ran out of clothing ever. And never was there mounds and mounds of laundry to wash, iron and put away. Now I have way too many pieces of clothing. Shirts and skirts, pants and more shoes than I can wear before one of them has to be dusted. I miss the simple one piece dress hanging in the closet. It was so easy.

It's not the work that drives us crazy, its how much we own that requires us to take care of.
Think of it this way. You go to work each day only to find the boss has taken on more and more projects for you each and every day. You begin to feel swamped and find it hard to get anything done since it seems hopeless. You feel overwhelmed.... now imagine you are the boss and have been doing that to yourself ! Doesn't make sense. People seek therapy for taking on more than they can handle, but we as homemakers have missed the real issue. We are making our work harder than we should, we keep adding and adding to our work in the accumulation of stuff and things we really don't need. We are slaves to our wants, slave to our things and we are the only ones that can change that for ourselves. Think simplicity, think of need vs want when you head out to the store or shop on line. Something to consider perhaps. I really need to listen to myself and get back to where I once was, before I started thinking I needed things that were not needs at all.

Picture of half our living room today after I washed the floors