What’s one thing you’ve let go recently?
That’s a question asked by the Minimalists on their Twitter feed this past week. I was able to recall three things I let go a week earlier, though the letting go was pretty easy.
I couldn’t help but read some of the responses (over 150 when I stumbled upon the question). Naturally, I was thinking of material things that people may have let go but was pleasantly surprised to read responses such as:
“I let go the idea that everything needs to be perfect before taking any action.”
Yes, many people listed material things they had let go. It was the multitude of responses from those who had more interesting and even profound statements of their letting go.
I can understand how life-changing it can be entering a new chapter in life, such as choosing to clear out the clutter, both material and emotional. I’ve certainly felt far more at-ease — rejuvenated really — since clearing out boxes of things that never got looked at, never mind used; duplicates of anything; clothes I never wore; decor items that gave me no pleasure; and so on. Since our nearly 100% purge last year, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. It was as if the material things held me down, as if the excess was holding me back from feeling free and unencumbered. So when I read some of those responses, I understood how they came to make those decisions and how very good it feels to free yourself of the things (whether they are material or emotional) that weigh a person down.
“We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something …, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” — C. JoyBell C.
And as I’m writing this in advance, it is World Ocean Day. Many of you know I’ve been a decades-long proponent of the reduce-reuse-recycle philosophy. Probably part of the reason why minimalism has come so easily to me. I read a statement by former Olympian Silken Laumen on how she is making a public pledge to do better in the coming year, beginning on World Ocean Day. Reading her pledge inspired me to also declare my plan to do better going forward. We already recycle everything we possibly can and in the past year have made a significant jump towards reducing our use/purchase of things plastic. But I can do better. So I have just ordered a variety of cotton bags in a range of sizes that will be kept in our reusable shopping bags. The little cotton ones will now hold any produce we otherwise would have put into the store-provided plastic produce bags. But that’s not all. Because so much plastic ends up in the ocean, I also plan to ask every single restaurant we go to in the coming year if they will consider committing to reducing their use of one-time-use plastics. If the people they depend on for their business begin asking that one single question, perhaps it will at least get them to think about it. So that’s my little pledge.
So my lovelies, what’s one thing you’ve let go recently?
Great post, Diane!
We downsized quite a bit when we moved into House #2 a little over 3 years ago now. Since then, I have let go of very few material things quite simply because I’ve not accumulated any additional unnecessary things. I LOVE it!!
Have a wonderful week, my friend!
just as you did this past year, we downsized in that we bought an older home with less storage space, so i made many trips to the outside garbage container as i unpacked boxes we had packed and moved. i’d lift the lid, toss the items, turn to walk away and say audibly, but to nobody but myself, “remember Lot’s wife”
other than all of those physical items, i let go of guilt
the guilt i’ve placed on myself for the actions of my grown children
your images are breath taking. the backlighting really sets them off.
Excellent post. Thanks.
I’m not perfect. I do get plastic bags sometimes – and use them to line the kitchen garbage bin!
But I keep a cardboard box in the car and simply put items back into my trolley as they are processed, then decant my shopping from trolley to box.(The box eventually ends up in the compost.)
We have been recycling for about 45 years but it becomes, at times, more difficult rather than less. Plastic containers for things like ketchup or mayonnaise are mostly the only option whereas there used to be glass jars or bottles. I get frustrated but the only thing I can do is to carry on doing my little bit for the planet. Bless you for doing yours Diane.