“in fact, that particular article of clothing has already completed its role in your life, and you are free to say, "thank you for giving me joy when i bought you," or "thank you for teaching me what doesn't suit me," and let it go.

every object has a different role to play. not all clothes have come to you to be worn threadbare. it is the same with people. not every person you meet in your life will become a close friend or lover. some you will find hard to get along with or impossible to like. but these people, too, teach you the precious lesson of who you do like and connect with, so that you will appreciate those special people even more.

when you come across something that you cannot part with, think carefully about its true purpose in your life. You'll be surprised at how many of the things you possess have already fulfilled their role. by acknowledging their contribution and letting them go with gratitude, you will be able to truly put the things you own, and your life in order. in the end, all that will remain are the things that you really treasure.”
― Marie Kondō

i mentioned in my blog post about the Solstice that i had done a bit (understatement) of a clean and tidy and reorganise of my room, bathroom, and two areas of this house upstairs i had had my eye on for a while.

we’ve only lived in this house for 1.5 years but as it was a holiday rental beforehand it came furnished with a few books and appliances which had admittedly collected some dust as when you move in you just want to get everything sorted and put them somewhere but then as time goes by i think we all have cupboards or wardrobes or shelves we know we should organise or give a dust off but … we’ll just do it another time.

this, however, was that ‘another time’. my parents had left for a month and it was me, the dogs and the house and though it was brave of me to tackle, i was happy to finally get sorted and take everything off the shelves and clean and reorganise without anybody in my way (it’s better that way sometimes, right?)

below i’ll show 2 brands that i used for cleaning as i really appreciate a good, natural, ethical cleaning products. these smell so good and i also use the ‘organic choice’ brand laundry and dish detergent (the orange, bergamot and lavender is a favourite and has your clothes feeling so soft).

the two main areas upstairs was the study nook where framing the main desk are two white shelves. one is our book shelf and the other mostly momentos, picture frames and ‘stuff’ to stand around in. not at all ugly or not nice ‘stuff’ but it was just a bit cluttered or didn’t really have a purpose.

i found once i took everything off these shelves and kept behind the most significant trinkets, they looked a lot more precious on their own rather than just standing cluttered with other things. i loved this shelf with all the ‘stuff’ because it was kept relatively clean behind the glass, but definitely needed a bit of sorting.

the second area was the kitchen pantry and the kitchen shelves where we keep our plates, bowls and upper cupboards for our wine glasses, tea and coffee mugs.

it was hard work but i felt a certain satisfying type of tired at the end of every day having done a little more each day. i also admit i maybe take a bit more time than what ever the ‘average’ person does because i am a perfectionist (as in taking all the books out the shelves and dusting them off and reading every blurb to sort them into categories and repack them as such and print out labels for said genres underneath every shelf? no? just me?) (or sorting the wine glasses from sizes large to small and mugs separate from normal sized coffee cups and tea cups and saucers on their own shelf? a bit much? or just right?)

taking everything off of the shelves to clean felt so nice to see a somewhat blank canvas before me to reorganise and do something different. i suppose it was a form of what people call ‘spring cleaning’, but i tend to do this (to my room and bathroom) at least once every season and this season is my favourite as we welcome in Summer and the doors and windows are open to let in the breeze and you want to look around and not look into any sort of clutter.

it makes sense that at least between Winter and Summer the feel of the house is different too; different decor or atmosphere depending on what the weather is like where you live. living in Australia with Christmas being in the Summer has everything feeling very airy and fresh with fruits and smoothies and seafood and flowers and sunbathing whereas in Europe or the US it’s Winter and you’re more cosy inside.

also depending on what kind of season you adore a little less it’s telling for when you’ll be more motivated to do the clean and tidy as i know i’m much less inclined for in Winter than i am now and above all no matter the season or time, one’s mood is a big factor in taking the initiative to get into it and for me, welcoming Summer and the holiday season for the New Year was definitely a big yes; not even really a chore, i was excited to do it! yes to Solstice celebrations and yes to simpler, cleaner surrounding spaces.

anyhow, it’s not necessarily that i have a lot of things or i keep collecting, i just like to rearrange some things whether it’s my books, clothes or where my bed stands. it allows a deeper clean to move furniture out the way and try out new perspectives and test the feng shui if you will.

so while cleaning is a big aspect of it, for me it’s about getting rid of a little bit more each time. things that i decided to keep from the last tidy up i then realise i didn’t have a use for but for some reason wanted to hang onto or see still for another couple months - things like some makeup products etc. i can’t actually think of the rest of things i have taken out which is exactly my point in when you get rid of something - you actually forget about it if you don’t use or see it! out of sight out of mind - it’s all about letting go. even if you put it in another room or in a box somewhere at first it’s a good test to see if in 3 months you’ve even looked at it or used it.

everyone is different though, tidying and reorganising is so personal and to everyone’s own tastes so what i do isn’t what everyone else should do or would need to, it’s just to give an idea or for you to reflect on where you’d might want to declutter. i know my wardrobe has always been a big one and even throughout high school for every season i would go through everything and get rid of a lot of stuff and now that I’m 23 years old and my taste has evolved, i’m more aware of where my clothes are coming from and how the quality of the clothes i buy are in terms of value and long-lasting & what i actually wear or ‘need’; it’s gotten to a good place where the clothes in my closet are slowly forming into a somewhat capsule wardrobe and it feels so good to know and feels so good to dress so easily day-to-day. definitely look into capsule wardrobes if you haven’t. it’s definitely still a work-in-progress for me over here.

my room is becoming more simplistic and when i look around, the things i see are things i really use, value or that bring me calm. less really is more, and listening to the minimalists podcast while tidying is of course a big help. this isn’t to say i claim to be a minimalist, but i value the idea of it and i believe everyone should in small ways integrate it into parts of your life as everyone has ‘things’ they hold onto which can turn into unhealthy habits of hoarding.

i know that sounds a bit hyperbole or scary but at least for me being a really sentimental person, i used to hold onto all sorts of plane tickets, concert tickets, movie tickets etc. which i think are totally okay to hold onto if it’s a handful of really special experiences but i was really taking in everything and it was just a bad habit and i could never get myself to get rid of them until every time i’d do a big tidy i’d come by them and realise that i just didn’t need them, i had the experience all in my head and if i really wanted to keep a ticket to show the future generations what tickets looked like ‘back in the day’ i need only keep one… not fifty!

… and even just taking things like that out of your space - even if they weren’t taking up ‘that much’ space - feels really great. it’s like little weights lifting off of you and it feels good to know you’re accountable for fifty tickets or birthday cards or newspapers or magazines less than you were before. . .

“it is not our memories but the person we have become because of those past experiences that we should treasure. this is the lesson these keepsakes teach us when we sort them. the space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.”

i think a lot of people see minimalism as daunting because they imagine minimalists to have one of everything or be in a white, modern, empty room/house with one spoon to eat out of or it’s about getting rid of all your belongings but it’s not. for me i find the feeling of knowing where every one of my belongings are and not having boxes sat in the wardrobe where I forget what is even in them. or looking around and everything you see has some sort of importance or use you’re getting out of them rather than collecting dust.

everyone has things they collect or hold onto, for me i would say what i have the most of are rings. rings and my jewellery box are something i have always valued and over the last i would say 2 years especially i have gotten rid of a lot of it and it was all jewellery that wasn’t of value or ‘cheap’/not of quality rings that i had kept over the years and bought when i was 12/13 and look back on now wishing i had listened to my mum telling me not to buy anything that isn’t sterling silver or the like. which might sound ‘fancy’ but it’s true, for me it comes back to the quality of what i buy now and what the value is to me. rings being the most of what i have bought is definitely one part of my purchases that falls into the ‘do not need’, but because i am sentimental and i do use them and see them every day i allow it and i love picking them out to wear every day because they are all from different countries, i swim with them/shower with them and they all carry different stories. we all have little (or big) trinkets that sit around and if we do it doesn’t mean we can’t be admirers of the minimalist life - anyone can be.

to me the notion or being of minimalist is for any aspect of your life and is - even if you never get rid of anything - simply the awareness of your belongings - how you buy, when you buy, why you buy etc. as well as why you keep things.

it refocuses your perception of what you have and that awareness sticks with you then when you do go out shopping or see something you like where you’ll reassess whether you really need it or if it will just give you a temporary happiness or excitement in getting something ‘new’ that in a few weeks will just be left sat somewhere.

buying and consumerism is one whole other branch off of minimalism which definitely needs more awareness especially in modern day where holidays such as Christmas and the Black Friday/Mid-year sales are turning out to be quite scary … but that’s a blog post for another day because your girl’s got some thoughts on that.

i linked the Minimalists site a few paragraphs up but if you click here you can find some of their most popular blogs/essays on their website where they also talk about organising and getting started if you have no idea where to!

some good tips i find to get into ‘Feng Shui-ing’ your space are:

clear physical clutter in your space, especially from the floor. clutter stops the flow of positive energy and keeps you stuck in the past, think about it, your clutter is your past and it’s distracting you from your future. are you using anything of what is on the floor? that empty water bottle? those books? pick up what you are using and clear out anything you don’t need (if you will definitely need it in the future find a purposeful space for it in a shelf, don’t shove it under the bed! that’s not what i mean by out of sight out mind so don’t try get tricksy ;)

let go of any items you are keeping out of guilt, that you don’t like or deplete your energy. you should love everything in your space and feel like you want to be there and spend time there.

complete unfinished projects around the house. when you see projects that are “half-done” like pictures you haven’t hung, boxes you haven’t unpacked, a leaky faucet or a burned out light bulb, your energy becomes depleted. these incomplete projects block you from doing the things you love and they love to tap into our procrastinating tendencies, they may not be as enjoyable, but they’re your stepping stones to getting to the fun stuff and get your space feeling and looking fresh with every little bit you do.

bringing the outdoors in! to boost energy, productivity and elevate your mood it makes a big difference placing thriving plants in the corners of your rooms to create harmony. do not for the love of mother Earth buy fake plants!
i know watering plants can be scary, but fake plants only gather more dust and it is so rewarding having lively, growing beings in your home to care for and you’re not fooling anybody with those fake succulents! for immediate uplift, open shades and pull back curtains to allow natural sunlight to bathe the room. you can add a table-top mini water fountain at the entrance of your home, or if that’s a little too extra, essential oil burners or aroma diffusers (my favourite are a few drops of lavender and eucalyptus essential oil mixed into the water of the diffuser) are an amazing addition to a kitchen bench or study which brings in prosperity energy, makes the whole room smell amazing and is low maintenance (it also looks cool and you’ll find yourself mesmerised by the vapour draping over the surface it stands with no mess! just a calming scent flowing through the room).

in general, arrange your furniture to welcome you into each room. It’s not inviting to see the back of a couch. add either vibrant or bright neutral colours in rugs, window treatments, pillows, candles and artwork to positively affect your mood. there is a Chinese proverb that says if you move twenty things in your home, you will change your luck ;)

if possible, creating a sort of ‘clearing space’ where an otherwise more cluttered space would be where you spend a lot of your time ie. your desk or study area, or even making space for a quiet corner by a window with a comfy chair and just having some coffee table photo-books to flick through or enjoy a warm cup of tea or coffee and making it a technology-free zone where you can really just sit, be with yourself and practice mindfulness is important because even when we are taking a break from work or study, we tend to get our phones out to scroll through social media and we aren’t present with our food or our minds and end up feeling as though we didn’t have a break at all. having a quiet corner where when you sit down in an open, comfortable space you know you can completely disconnect from is good for the soul and is motivating to keep that area free of clutter if you associate it with tranquility and quiet.

if you take some sandalwood incense or dried sage and set it in a space you once shared with someone you’re no longer with or have in your life can be really therapeutic to welcome in fresh energy to begin anew. wave the incense in a counter-clockwise circle as you walk around your home. remind yourself and say “thank you for disintegrating any negative energy, anger, sadness, relationship or financial problems from this space now.”

this one is a little tricky and one not many people consider but keeping good company and applying the idea of feng shui to your friends is a good one too. if the people you are spending time with are draining your energy, you might want to reconsider how much time you want to spend with them. move towards the people that lift you up and pay attention to how your energy shifts with different people, who do you feel you gain the most valuable and heart-to-heart conversations with where after you’ve spoken you feel almost re-energised and heard and loved? we are all very sensitive beings and more of us need to realise how who we are with is a big part of how we also treat ourselves and feel at the end of the day; if the space we live in can affect us, imagine how the people we interact with every day does!

“restoring order of my personal universe suddenly seemed imperative, as I refolded my T-shirts, stuffed the toes of my shoes with tissue paper, and arranged all the bills in my secret stash box facing the same way, instead of tossed in sloppy and wild, as if by my evil twin. all week, i kept making lists and crossing things off them, ending each day with a sense of great accomplishment eclipsed only by complete and total exhaustion.”
― Sarah Dessen

notes on minimalism and the catharsis of a good clean & tidy

summer solstice & a wildflower's dream