My family and I have been practicing Simplicity for almost six years now. Though we’re seasoned in our minimalist ways, we still have little pockets of space that we struggle to maintain clutter free and simple. One of those spaces is my bedside table. I can’t even call it a table. Actually, the night stand is an unfinished wooden TV tray stained to match the color of our bed. Meant as a personal table for eating while one watches TV aside, the space isn’t the issue. It’s how the space is used that inevitably attracts clutter. Once I realized this micro-space was a clutter trap (still), I knew ..read more

“For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.”  Viktor Frankl A common sentiment I see around the internet in regard to minimalism or decluttering is the regret of waste. Waste includes many things, of course. From a global perspective, the amount of food, water, natural resources, and clothing wasted is a major crisis we and coming generations must face.  This is an important factor for many people choosing simpler, smaller, slower li ..read more

Alignment is one of my favorite words to describe a life of simplicity. Simplicity brings life into alignment with the soul.  When there is a misalignment in your life, anywhere, it seems to make everything more difficult.  The misalignment occurs when our soul gets buried underneath our desire to control how life should be, instead of allowing life to unfold as it is. Just think about it, how much of your clutter, busyness, stress, and feeling not enough is rooted in a desire to control the outcomes of situations, approval from others, and worry about the past or future? We acquire ..read more

Soul-thriving simplicity starts with our clutter, but it shouldn’t stop there. Clutter is often the first place people begin to simplify, and rightfully so. The piles we ritually move from the coffee table to the bookshelf and back again eventually speak for themselves. As does the fatigue brought on simply by getting dressed in the morning or folding laundry or organizing our kids stuffed animals – again. Something needs to change, we might say to ourselves, and the search for a simpler, clutter free life begins. Clutter is just the beginning. In time, Simplicity will offer soul-thriving reas ..read more

I have been thinking about the modern phenomenon of convenience. We live in a convenience culture and to be honest, it’s wearing me out. Everywhere I go there’s a new app to skip the line, pay in advance, and save time and avoid connection. I keep asking myself, am I losing more than I’m gaining by choosing convenience over the few minutes it takes standing in line, ordering, and waiting for my coffee? Am I saving time, energy, or mental calories by relying on apps? Doesn’t this make me more busy, stressed, and less present in the illusion of getting more done? A Bit of Perspect ..read more

The world is hurting. We who grieve are in communion with the grieving of all.  We grieve for lost life, for lost freedom, for lost sense of safety. It is right to grieve this moment in our history. It is right to carry deep sorrow for the state of the collective fear, concern, hyper vigilance, and uncertainty. It is right to hold disappointment for events cancelled, travel bans, and irresponsible speeches.  It is right to sit with our sadness over lost lives, lost wages, and lost security. Today, as word came by email and mass texts that our school district will be closing schools ..read more

Show, don’t tell is perhaps the most common writing advice for a reason.  A good writer knows that to bring stories to life within the imagination of the reader he or she must show who their characters are and what they want, not just provide a bullet point list of personality traits and a to-do list.  Bullet point lists are not compelling narrators. The art of showing rather than telling is an invitation for the reader to participate in the character’s story, get invested in its unfolding, and to be more than a witness in the shadows. Telling what’s happening is fine, but showing wh ..read more

In the days and weeks following the birth of my second daughter I experienced debilitating pain, a dull ache thick with intensity.  It seemed obvious to have a particular soreness after giving birth, but this pain was nothing like I experienced with my first child. I didn’t matter my position, I found no comfort.  Walking was excruciating, as were sitting and standing. Worried, since I had a toddler to chase and newborn to nurse, I called the nurse line for advice. “It’s normal,” the nurse said. “You’re healing and sometimes the healing hurts too.” She went on to explain how the pain ..read more

Discovering your true self, and telling the truth about who you are by how you live, is the evolution of simplicity. For what I can only attribute to my basic desire for authenticity, I am quite un-talented in hiding the truth about who I am. And that – hiding the truth about who I am – I tried to do for a really long time. I’m not a good liar.  Not that I try to be, but I have the unfortunate condition of the ultimate readable face.  Whatever emotion I feel, whether I wish to conceal it or not, my face betrays me.  Needless to say, I don’t have a poker face. When playing any ga ..read more

Today I’m happy to welcome Jenn Baxter to the blog as she shares the lessons she learned as she got rid of 80% of her possessions to live in a tiny house and how it changed her life for the better. When I set out to get rid of about 80% of my belongings in 2014, it was for a very specific reason – to move into a 160 square foot tiny house on wheels. It really was the means to an end, more than anything else.  My mother (who was also my very best friend) had recently passed away and I had a modest amount of money that she had left me, which I had originally planned to use as a down payment ..read more