Putting Your Stuff in its Place

My husband and I read “A Simplified Life” by Emily Ley about five years ago. At the time, our lives felt very far from simplified as we had just gotten married, moved to a new city, started new jobs and were getting plugged in to a new church community. It was exciting and a bit overwhelming to share a cute two-bedroom apartment with our newly adopted cocker spaniels and…a lot of stuff.

Inundated with all of the newness, I sought out a good day-planner to help me get organized. I ended up finding Emily’s “Simplified Planner,” and in it, she referenced her new book “A Simplified Life.” The planner was great and and it turns out the book was too.

Emily presented many practical ways to simplify your life, and my husband and I felt especially engaged when she talked about physical possessions. She brought up some great tenants of minimalism, but went on to say that culture’s connotation of that specific word didn’t quite resonate with the vibe she wanted her home to have. Emily wouldn’t call herself a minimalist, but pursues a highly-simplified home that is also undeniably welcoming and cozy. The word minimalism drives most people to think of an empty aesthetic, a list of legalisms and getting by through life with the least amount of possessions possible. And the truth is, it can be those things, but it doesn't have to be.

God's provision to our family has been bountiful. We feel blessed to have everything we need in our home and honestly, most of the things we could ever want. What is absent, if you want to put it that way, is the excess… the things that complicate our priorities and distract us from living out what matters most. This is where the practical pursuit of minimalism really should look different from person to person.

Over the past five years, we have been in steady pursuit of a highly simplified and joy-filled home that is full of life and color. As a result, we do not miss out on the special things in life, but are actually able to cherish them more and with greater capacity. It is hard to fully quantify all of the benefits of living in a simplified home, but here are three from the top of my head:

First and most importantly, we experience contentment in a way that I never thought was actually possible. Like, a 1000x more than the contentment the coolest new gadget promises us, but can never deliver on. I am more available for my relationship with the Lord as well as my husband and children. I can sit quietly and pray or just play with my kids without being so consumed by my to-do list. If you were to ask my husband, that list basically entailed "clean and organize the entire house,” and I was consumed by it a lot.

Next, when I need a specific item, I know where it is. Everything in our home has a home and I can mentally catalog the inventory because our possessions have been simplified and organized. Even if an item didn't make it to its correct spot (usually thanks to our sweet toddler), it isn't hard to find after a few moments of looking.

Finally, I can unabashedly welcome unexpected visitors into our home without feeling like I need to apologize for its current state. Even if it is messy (because that does happen and we do actually live here) we can usually tidy up in 15 minutes or less.

Believe me when I say that this has been an evolving process that has taken us years to achieve and that we have by no means arrived. We have, however, truly benefitted from embarking on this journey, and I want to encourage you as you start your own. There is a lot more that I could say on the subject, so if you have any questions, would like some practical tips on how to start or would like to be connected to helpful resources, please leave a comment below.