Thursday, July 1, 2010

Weedy Clutter and Simplfied Spaces

Clutter is like weeds.

I once heard a very good description of a weed: It is simply a plant growing somewhere it is not wanted. How true this is! There is no plant that is inherently bad, just certain types of plants sometimes grow in places they are unwanted.

The same is true with stuff. The things we have, the things that clutter our minds and spaces and homes, they are not inherently bad things. In fact, they may be good things, lovely things. We simply do not have room in our lives and spaces for them. So they become clutter.

I recently saw a picture that truly speaks a thousand words.


Why do we cling to things with such devotion?

My husband has aptly pointed out that Walmart replaces the Christmas items with storage containers of all shapes and sizes the day after Christmas. They seem to know something we don't think about often enough.

Shouldn't we try to lighten the load? Why do we buy more Rubbermaid containers and shelving and storage units, take up more room in our attic and garage and closets, add more rooms to our homes or get bigger homes all together, rather than truly deciding what needs to be kept and what we can part with?

Perhaps we have so much because we are meant to give, to share, with others.

Couldn't we live more simply so others might simply live?

These thoughts all accumulate in my mind and I look around my home at the space I have and make a decision to stop looking at my space as too small and instead find a way to simplify what fills it. My stuff does not define me and even the good things I have, the blessings, can become burdens when I hoard rather than distribute and I do not need so many things.

I have a limited amount of space and maybe I need to give more thought to what I buy, what I have room for. Maybe I need to stop accumulating things. Maybe having so much stuff binds me rather than frees me, and a few well thought things are better than many things I will not use and will not bless my family. Because is it really better to hold on to something stored away in a closet or attic when a friend or neighbor could use it? Will I really USE it or does it just sit, rusting and moth eaten and a talent I buried in the ground?

To him who has been given much, much shall be required.

4 comments:

  1. Always in need of this reminder! <3

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  2. Such a wonderful post. I think we all need to do a little weeding in our lives,both in our closet, and in our minds.
    Hope you have an awesome weekend! :-)

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  3. A great post Amy. Thank you for your timely reminder.
    God Bless :)

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  4. Oh yes, weeds and clutter. Two things that drive me nuts. I have lots of storage totes too. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to save and what to give away.

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