{"id":2956,"date":"2012-03-09T08:47:34","date_gmt":"2012-03-09T15:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theproject333.com\/?p=108"},"modified":"2017-12-15T10:21:21","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T17:21:21","slug":"decluttering-changes-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/decluttering-changes-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Decluttering Changes Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Editor’s Note:<\/strong> This is a guest post from Cecily Paterson of\u00a0www.cecilypaterson.squarespace.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>I started out on my decluttering journey because I was tired of spending all my hours at home doing the same thing. All I did all day was clean, organise and put away all of our stuff. I\u2019m married with four children and a dog, so we have a lot of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is ridiculous,\u201d I thought to myself as I stumbled up the stairs with arms full of plastic toys. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the curator and caretaker of everyone else\u2019s bits and pieces. I want to live my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I began to declutter.<\/p>\n

It started out as a little bit every day \u2013 a pair of old shoes, some toys that the children weren\u2019t playing with. And then I did major cupboards and untouched drawers and corners of rooms that have been stressing me out for years.<\/p>\n

Every time I decluttered physical objects and items, I felt fantastic. Every time I was able to make a decision to let something go I felt lighter and a little more free. We\u2019ve made progress: we actually got rid of \u2018the pile\u2019 in the kitchen last month. And it hasn\u2019t returned. A few months in and already I feel less uptight and less worried about the things I \u2018have\u2019 to do. And I\u2019m getting to spend more time on my writing, which is really why I\u2019m staying home in the first place!<\/p>\n

I came across Project 333 in the summer. It was a revelation. Only 33 items of clothing? I went into my bedroom to see how I measured up. Before I even started counting I went through every item with a ruthless eye. After I\u2019d filled two garbage bags with pieces of clothing I hadn\u2019t actually worn in two years or more, I began to count. At 35, I culled a bit more, and now I am at 34 items in my wardrobe.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been shopping at thrift stores for years. I began because it seemed a very cost effective way to buy as many clothes as I wanted. Back then, I thought, like most of us, \u201cMore is better and gives me more options.\u201d Now, though, I\u2019m seeing that having less is freeing. The great items and the ones that really suit me get worn much more. I still love to shop at the thrift store, but from this point, when I go to buy my \u2018new\u2019 clothes, I\u2019ll scrap everything in my cupboard that I haven\u2019t worn in the last six months. I can still choose what I like, but I\u2019ll have a quicker turnover of the older clothes. One item in, one item out. It\u2019s more fun to have a wardrobe change every six months!<\/p>\n

But the decluttering has affected my life in more ways than I thought.<\/h3>\n