organize vs. simplify vs. minimalist

I've always had it in me somewhere to organize or have things in order. This goes way back to my "must hang all the Barbie outfits on hangers when I put them away" obsession as a little girl. Just imagine throwing everything in the case in a scrambled mess....that could drive me crazy. Over the years, I have gone through many stages, from being very organized to extremely cluttered. Somehow, we have accumulated too much "stuff" in our home and in our lives and trying to keep up with it all is just so overwhelming.

I have mainly tried to focus on organizing, trying to find a place for everything, putting stuff in bins, baskets, and containers (I really do love a pretty basket or bin!), but I am still holding on to too many things that we really never use, or even need. Then, I started focusing more on "simplifying", not only in our home, but in our daily schedule. I stopped feeling guilty about not attending or volunteering for every function. Mom and I even had an epiphany a few Thanksgivings ago. We decided to buy pretty disposable plates {gasp!} instead of using the good dishes. We fretted a bit over it, but realized after dinner when we were all sitting back with coffee and dessert watching the football game, that we REALLY love paper plates! :0)

It's simple things like that that make me happy and free up time to enjoy the more important things in life.

Then, a few months ago, Mom introduced me to the term "minimalist". After researching and reading several blogs on the minimalist lifestyle, I have become very fascinated with some of the ideas and suggestions for living a simpler (more minimal?) life. While I know I will never go to the extreme that some minimalists do (and I'm not criticizing, it is just not fully for me), I do plan to incorporate some of it into my lifestyle.

I am starting with an idea I saw on one of the blogs I follow......

Get rid of things you don't need, use, or want...100 Things in 100 Days. There are exactly 100 days between now and December 31, that is only 1 item a day, and by January 1st, our home will be 100 items lighter.

This is just one of the many steps that I hope to take towards living a more organized, simple, maybe even minimalist life!

Live a richer life with less stuff......