Always remember that the future comes one day at a time. – Dean Acheson
And just like that, the November minimalism challenge comes to an end. We’ve been decluttering all month and it has been quite the exercise in consistency. As much as we tried to do the appropriate number of items every day, Amy and I found it much simpler to do several days in batches. This past weekend, we finished the challenge by digging into our garage and small basement storage area. Here’s a picture from the final push!
After doing this now for the third time, I’m starting to feel as though we’re finding a good balance in our home. One of the biggest issues for us was papers and old documents that we weren’t sure what to do with. We finally sorted through everything and decided what needed to be shredded v.s. recycled and made the push to take care of it all.
I initially thought that playing a third time was going to be incredibly challenging and of course, it was not. We thought that we’d end up having to scrape the furthest corners and dark crevices of our home in search of clutter. We did not. In fact, we could probably play minsgame a fourth time. It’s amazing how little things add up!
We continue to evolve in our journey and are always looking for new ways to edit our lives. Our perception of what we need and what we want out of life continues to change. The our perception of what essential means to us continues to change as well.
I’m not sure that this evolution will ever stop, because we ourselves should never stop evolving. Right now, Amy and I want to have less stuff — continually less and less. We’re looking for more freedom with our time and know that mostly, things tend to take up that time.
Now that the November minimalism challenge is done, I’m going to be focusing more on intentional living in general. Minimalism is obviously a big part of that, but going forward I will be focusing more on Break the Twitch’s overall mission: Aligning short-term actions with long-term vision. That’s everything from impulse purchases to spending too much time in front of screens when we should be connecting with others, or taking care of ourselves.
Lastly, I want to give big virtual hugs to Laura of One Girl, Two Cities, Sara of Social Sara 612, and Heather of Simply Save for leading this fun challenge. An amazing community of over 160 people joined for the November challenge, and tens of thousands of things were collectively decluttered from homes this month. Pretty wonderful for a time when so much of the world is focused on discounted holiday shopping and consuming more than ever.
Although I didn’t take part in the challenge, I find myself constantly looking for something else to remove! Decluttering is such a great way to realise what you actually need and want to have. Most of the time I can’t even remember what I’ve taken to a charity shop, regardless how painful its removal had seemed at the time. (Giving some previously loved items to friends who really like them feels great too. You feel they have got an extra lease of life and a good new home.)
Funnily enough, the more I remove, the less I seem to need. What is left is either useful or very much loved/appreciated. I’m more into experiences and time spent with friends than buying stuff anyway.
Having said that, I do need a good citytravel backpack for my future travels…!
Thank you all so much for leading this challenge. I, too, thought that we would struggle through the month – and we didn’t! There is always more – like you said, we are constantly evolving. A great challenge, and looking forward to your next post.
Thank you so much for being a part of making this happen! The amount of items you and Amy have eliminated is impressive. Your insight has been so helpful and I’m looking forward to more of it on Break The Twitch. Hope to see you tomorrow!
Thank you so much, Anthony, for being one of the catalysts to make this month happen. I appreciate your friendship and your insight, and I’m looking forward to celebrating tomorrow!!