The Gillie's Simplify Life

In a recent blog post, I mentioned that I felt the need to simplify and prioritize. Well, I'm taking it to a new level. After researching (I love my research) different minimalist lifestyle ideas, I decided that it was a direction I wanted to move our family in. I talked it over with Jimmy and he agreed to it. Or at least to minimize our closets. I was primarily inspired by an article titled "Why I got rid of all my kid's clothing". It just made sense. Right after reading it, I decided that this was something I wanted to do. I'll attach a link to the article at the end of this post. There were also a significant amount of quotes that inspired and motivated me. Here are some that I particularly liked:

 I love how simply this is.

"The more you have, the more occupied you are. The less you have, the more free you are."

 - Mother Theresa

This is something that I think we all need reminding of. It's so easy to get caught up in "looking" like how we think we should be...or how we think others want us to be. 

It's easy as that, folks.

I saved my favorite for last. I absolutely love this quote. When we love everything around us, we're more likely to take care of and enjoy it. When I'm in a space that is beautiful to me, I feel more a peace and more comfortable with myself. 

Last night, after already deciding to minimize, I was doing some scripture study and read something that confirmed to me that this really is the right move for our family and home. In the LDS Handbook in the first section and read this, "Wherever Church members live, they should establish a home where the Spirit is present." I don't know about you, but I feel the spirit so much more when our home is clean and tidy and stress free. Something that I know will come from purging. It continued by sharing the scripture D&C 88:119, "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning,a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;". I've heard this scripture many times, but this time it hit me hard. I guess it all just clicked. It's not enough to have a testimony or to say prayers together. We have to do it all...including organizing and making our house a house of order. It's a necessary part of making our house a house of God. (Obviously, God doesn't expect perfection. It's a process. To me that means constantly looking for ways to improve. I can't describe how excited I am to be doing this in our house. 

Over the next couple weeks, I will probably do a few blog posts about how purging experiences. Partly for those that are actually interest, but mostly for myself. I'm looking forward to seeing how much progress we can make and I think that this will help me to remain motivated and inspired and focused on my end goal.

Here are links to the articles that I found most helpful/inspiring/motivating (Starting with the one I mentioned earlier in the post). Please don't hesitate to give advice or ask questions.

Why I got rid of all my kid's clothing 

Infographic

15 minimalist hacks to maximize your life

Top ten reasons our family wants to live with less stuff

Seven tiny steps for the beginner minimalist

Until next time, 

Kyrstie