Tag slow living

clutter is how far away you are from your present self

Michelle 3 Comments

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What is clutter? Webster defines clutter as a collection of things lying about in an untidy mess. But what about the things themselves? Clutter neatly arranged is still clutter, isn’t it? In learning more about minimalism, I’ve begun to learn to recognize clutter in new ways. This is the first step in removing it and preventing it from re-entering our lives.

So what is clutter? And how does it enter our lives?

Clutter reflects how far away you are from your present self.

It happens in 3 ways: Continue reading “clutter is how far away you are from your present self” →

good read: the anti-mcmansion

Michelle 2 Comments

kawabata

I stumbled across a feature on the Apiece Apart blog inspiring woman series about Christina Kawabata’s beautiful house in upstate New York where she and her architect husband raise their two kids with very little material possessions in one large open concept space.  It was featured in the NY times, in an article titled ‘the Anti-McMansion‘ and also on the Remodelista blog.  In the interview with Apiece Apart, she talks about people’s general reaction to her home and how she has managed to raise two children with this lifestyle.  It got me thinking about the idea of creating “domestic calm” and how that might be important to have firmly in place before bringing children into this world.

[image credit:  Apiece Apart]

good read

Michelle 3 Comments

kinfolk 16

This week, I learned about ‘slow living’, ‘essentialism’, and ‘downshifting’ and how these lifestyles differ from ‘minimalism’.  I found a good read from Kinfolk (the slow living magazine out of Oregon) in an article about essentialism and how its focus is more on individuality through an emphasis on curation, not just downsizing.  I love reading about variations on how to simplify our lives.  It is reassuring and grounding.  I’m finding it very important to remind myself of why simplicity makes sense by writing and reading about it.  We need reminders because the world around us constantly tells us to endlessly buy and work more.