The More of Less

Somehow the holiday didn’t feel the same this year. When you’re on a mission to rid your home of excess, it is difficult to receive gifts. You find yourself analyzing each package as you’re opening it, evaluating which pile this gift will end up in. Is this a gift that you’re going to love and keep, or is it going to end up in the box of items to haul off to the thrift store before the year is up? The internal conversations I had really put a damper on portions of my holiday, but those conversations have led me to pursue a different type of holiday in the future – a Christmas where family is more important than gifting, and where time is more valuable than stuff.

I recently heard a man quote the following: “It’s okay to have stuff, but be careful that stuff doesn’t have you.” It was timely conversation and I have been thinking about it all week. While cleaning out my re-gifting box before Christmas, I found a gift I purchased for my daughter two years ago. I must have slipped it into the re-gifting box in an attempt to disguise it and forgot that it was there. For two years, these mother-daughter faith journals have sat, wrapped in the plastic bag from the company I purchased them from, at the bottom of a plastic tub, and no one in my family knew they were there. That should seem crazy to me that I have items in my home that I am unaware are here, and even crazier that I must have bought so many gifts that year that I didn’t realize one was missing. In any event, my daughter opened them this year with great delight. She said, “Maybe we can have lunch at Dos Coyotes [one of our favorite local Mexican Restaurants] once a week, maybe on Wednesdays, and we can do these!” My response should have immediately been a resounding, “Yes!”, but shamefully it wasn’t. First, I thought, “Wednesday? I cannot commit to meeting on Wednesday, I have a client I do work for each Wednesday.” My second thought was, “Tax season is around the corner, I am not sure I can commit to anything once a week.” And then I realized that I had taken too long to respond and my daughter read my face, and the shame of busy made me want to crawl under the chair I was sitting on. My first thought should have been how amazing it is that my twelve-year-old daughter wants to spend time with me talking about our creator on a regular basis. The fact that I have prioritized my regular work schedule but I am failing to schedule my family in my busy life is absolutely shameful, and I have relived that moment a dozen times this week. Each time I see her face beam, then fall, I resolve to make some real changes in my life. The purging of stuff is bringing to the surface the other areas of my life I need to purge – my calendar being one.

This is an emotional journey, and I needed to take a few days off to recover from the holiday, from some physical things I am dealing with, and to catch up on some sleep, but I am back at it. I even roped my husband into helping! We have spent the last few days cleaning out our second living room and organizing our crafting area. I was able to remove 177 items from my home. I am pleased to say that many of those items went to a local thrift store, while only a few of them went into a garbage sack. There were new, unopened items, gently used items, and some very worn items my family has just outgrown. Here are some highlights from today’s donation: 27 educational children’s books, 10 picture frames – still in the shrink wrap, 1 box of cat litter, 1 binder full of lined paper, 20 unopened packages of baking cups, 1 giant tug of war rope, 1 pen, 1 bag of coffee that has been hanging out for several years, 2 throw pillows, 19 board games – some still in their original packaging, and a few boxes of miscellaneous items.

The more I remove items from my home, the more I want to remove items. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:6 that “…godliness with contentment is great gain.” I want to be content with less. I have realized that more does not breed contentment, but chaos. I want the more of less.