simple living- what is it?

Have you ever observed the way someone manages their life and home and thought, man, I could learn a thing or two or twelve from them. There are three people in my life that have inspired me with their simple living; and fortunately I worked with all of them (Stacey Bloodworth, Lacy Deese and Ann Hendrick). I observed healthy boundaries that Stacey and Lacy set for themselves; boundaries in how they spent their time, money and relationships- with great intention. I revered the way Ann cooks, invests in her own garden and local markets, and the adventurous-memory-making holidays and vacations with her family.
I have longed for the season of life where being "domestic" was important and appreciated; where investing in my home means more than upgrading to stainless steel appliances. I am in that season now.
When Daniel and I were writing our wedding vows, we sat snuggled up on a sofa and wrote down what was important to our home, family and relationship. I later read in a book that what we were doing was establishing our family's purpose statement.
Well, wouldn't you know....Lacy Deese recently mailed me this book for my birthday, Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (yes, that is the correct spelling).

It's an easy read, but I am not going to be that friend who insists you read every book I read. Instead, I am going dedicate the next few blogs to the concepts in the book that resonate with me. Hopefully, making it more SIMPLE for you. I will not give my opinion; just some really helpful nuggets (i love using the word nugget).

from the book..."Our culture progresses toward more busyness, more options, more opportunites to make money and my heart runs the other way. One hundred years ago, a housewife didn't have an endless selection of toothpastes. Are we any happier today that we have twenty different toothpaste brands and thirty different flavors to choose from? We're stressed. It's those endless options that make us feel like we might miss something.
From 1950 to 2004, the average American home has DOUBLED in size- what was once 983 square feet is now 2,349 sq. ft. Today, we live in homes that provide almost the same amount of room per person that an average 1950s-sized house would have provided for an entire family. And the storage business is a lucrative business, to help us buy more, clutter more and hold onto all of our so-called valuable "stuff."
Simple Living is a buzzword in our postmodern culture, and concepts like frugality and going green are trendy. But 80 percent of American households are two-income families and do not have the time or desire to transport their families around on bikes, grow all of their produce or sew all of their clothes. Simplifying your life does not mean going to extremes or creating more work. Simplifying your life is about making life better. It's about choices to say NO to the things that don't matter so you are free to say YES to the things you truly want. The definition of simple living is "LIVING HOLISTICALLY WITH YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE."

Four extra benefits of simplfying and decluttering:
More time for people: being free to invite someone over at the last minute for dinner and a card game without the fear of the mountain of laundry or food stuck to the kitchen counter. Improved Health: Our mental, emotional, and physical health is taking a serious toll because of our cluttered lives. We're stressed, easily overwhelmed, and we are not sleeping well because our minds, checkbooks and homes are too crowded with our "stuff." All of the hard work to maintain it means less time in the place meant to be your haven. Financial well-being: We never feel like we have enough money while buying things with our money that we don't really need. De-cluttering our homes and shopping carts also creates emotional freedom which directly effects financial wellbeing.An ecological step in the right direction:You'll probably use less electricity, less gas, and less water to keep your place running.

You can't do it all, but you can control what you bring into your home and what you do with your resources. Simple living means that all the parts of your life are pointed in the same direction, one that has purpose and vibrancy.

I will continue this synopsis in later blogs. it gets good!....
Heather