I first heard about the Broken Window Theory in one of Malcolm Gladwell’s many amazing books. The basic idea being that if there is one person with a broken window in a neighborhood, slowly the rest of the neighborhood will start to shift and deteriorate. In other words, our surroundings dictate our behaviors. In my almost a decade of practicing minimalism, I can see more and more how we can apply the Broken Window Theory to our lives and homes. You know, less clutter = more peace of mind and all that jazz. However, there is a fine line to walk between fixing a few broken windows in your home and buying an entirely new furniture set. How the heck do ya tell the difference between these two? Well, here’s what I’m thinkin’…
As Tom and I were making our way through Target for one of many Christmas food shopping trips, I eagerly grabbed a package of pre-cut meats, looked up at Tom with twinkles in my eyes and optimistically said, “I’m going to make roses out of these!” Before he could even shift the expression on his face, I burst out laughing at the absurdity of what I had just said. I guess sometimes we need to hear ourselves say crazy things in order for us to realize just how crazy they sound. In that split second, I made the decision to opt out of meat styling this Christmas. Before I tell you why, you probably want to know why in the world this was something I had my heart set on in the first place? Let’s begin…
When I first started my minimalist journey, I was hanging out in a lot of minimalism centered Facebook groups and one of the big conversations that would stir within these groups were frustrations with family members who would buy gifts for them or request gifts. Since we’re inching closer to Christmas time as I write this article, I felt like I needed to put in my two cents on the matter — because that’s what the internet needs, more people loudly stating their opinions. (JK) My hope is that this will give you a slightly shifted perspective on gift giving, stuff, and being patient with how others choose to live and give.
As far back as I can remember I have loved the idea of waking up Christmas morning and announcing to our family that we are flying out somewhere amazing. I think it all stemmed from seeing another mom do this with her kids. Without realizing it, I have always been someone who leaned more toward experiences over things. Now that our kids are getting older, and are less interested in toys, I’m feeling the pull toward big experiences more than ever. In fact, last year, we opted for a hotel up north and played games and ate sushi in our PJs. It was awesome and the kids loved it. So, if you are hoping to shift away from the endless stream of presents and toys, here is a starter guide for making the shift into ditching the gifts for the getaways.
For the last few years I have been working at building a business while homeschooling my kids, running my household, seeing my family members through depression, caring for a dying step dad…And all the while I’ve had this gnawing thought in the back of my mind that I’m missing out – I’m not building my business fast enough. I’ve now come to the realization that we are always building something, it’s just that more often than not we are so focused on what we are not building that we just might be missing out on the pretty spectacular stuff that we are building!
Ya know, no one really likes to read stuff with the word “die” in the title, but nothing else is really going to convey my message quite as strongly, and since I’ve made peace with this dreaded word, I’m gonna go ahead and let it be. The thing is, most of us, especially those with kids, want to make sure we are leaving something behind when we go. One of the most commonly Googled things is how to leave your house to your children when you die. If you are hoping to gift your kiddos a house, might I suggest looking into Swedish Death Cleaning before you do — there I go again with that word. The thing is, a lot of people leave their children behind not only grieving the loss of a parent(s) but also having to now deal with cleaning up all their parent’s sh*t. So, if you don’t want to leave your children grieved and burdened, it might be a good idea to do a few declutter sessions before you make your grand exit. But, that’s besides my point. I want you to actually leave more behind when you die! I know I sound like I’m contradicting myself, but just hear me out…