The day before my youngest son got married, his older brother announced that he and his family were moving back to NC. He’d got a new job. We were thrilled. I missed having he and his brother close to home and the 1,000 miles between us grew enormous once baby Emmett was born. For all of us. Now, at last, the opportunity was here to share more of life and be a bigger part of our grand-baby’s life. It felt like a miracle. With this happy news tucked away, we jumped into wedding preparation and the big day. It was beautiful.
Once the dust settled, and the happy couple was off on their honeymoon, it was time to discuss the details of my son’s move. That’s when we learned that he was to start his new job the Monday after Thanksgiving, one month away. That meant he and his wife had one month to sell their house, move across the country and find a place to live. We all knew that more than likely they would have to live with us for a time.
Our joyous pre-wedding news quickly became a frantic race to the finish. We flew home and went to work.
WHAT A ROLLER COASTER RIDE!
My head is spinning. Besides the wedding and the news of the move, I had made three trips to KC for my for the birth of my grandson, a bridal shower and a trips to visit the baby three months later. I’ve been practicing resilience for about five years now and I’ve gotten so much better at navigating stressful times, but I worried that this last event would do me in.
The older I get, the more recovery time I need. As an empath and an introvert, down time has always been important. Now, it’s just more so. I’m pretty good at keeping up until life throws me a few curve balls and then I get worried!
Since our arrival home, my husband and I have been facing the daunting challenge of readying the house for my son and his family. Getting rid of stuff and downsizing is something we both have talked about from time to time, but without the push to do it we let it slide. It seems now we’ve have been given a deadline.
THE CHALLENGE
The first obstacle to overcome was navigating the loss of my beloved Rowdy. That’s a story for another day. Through tears and heartache I went to work, sorting, tossing and reorganizing. Last year as I was contemplating downsizing The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was recommended to me by a friend. I am so glad I read it and I highly recommend that you pick up a copy too. It’s no-nonsense approach to living a simpler life without clutter is contagious.
We are now down to a week and I’m happy to say we’ve gone through the entire house from top to bottom — with a vengeance! We’re not done, but we’re well on our way.
I’ve heard that once you start getting rid of stuff, it gets easier. I didn’t believe it — not for a minute. But, guess what? It’s true! The more I toss, the more I want to toss. The less we have the more we value what we have and enjoy it.
Each trip to Goodwill intensifies the feeling of liberation. I feel lighter and freer and it feels really good! Liberation, lightness, purity. I like it and want more of it! Who really needs the weight of “stuff”!
The question I keep asking myself is, why did I wait so long??? Why have I spent my life being a “stuffologist”?! Some day I will ponder that question although I suspect the answer will arise once the stuff is gone.
In the meantime, the answer to the question “why” is. . . because. All that matters is that I don’t have to do it anymore! Yippee!! Back to work.
HAVE YOU DOWNSIZED?
Please share any tips and advice you have to give. What worked for you? How long did it take you to get your home to where you wanted it? Has it been easy, or difficult to keep things simple? I would love to hear about your experiences.
This is an older blog post, but I see I haven’t commented.
I prefer the term “downsize” to “downgrading” because size matters. We also shifted from two stories to one, another way to simplify. Good tips here!
I agree! This post was by a contributor. I intended to change it but life has been complicated! “Downgrade” to me sounds like a negative and downsizing can be just the opposite!