Less is More

Photo by Gades Photography on Unsplash

Have you ever moved? If so, you know that it can be both exciting (hopefully) and/or stressful and tiring. If you have lived in any one place for any reasonable amount of time, once you start packing to move, you quickly realize that you have a lot more stuff than you thought. It is amazing to me how much stuff we can acquire over the years, or even in just a few short months.

About four years ago, Paul and I decided we wanted to downsize. The home that we lived in was much too big for just the two of us. We purchased a smaller home, which we liked, but that meant we had to get rid of a lot of things. But, that is what downsizing is all about, right? It was a good move. We had a ton of things that we didn’t use or need anymore. Most of it was donated to various charities and what couldn’t be used again or salvaged was trashed. It felt so freeing to get rid of so much stuff. It made me realize that less is more. Especially when it comes to physical objects. If you don’t use it regularly or just dearly love it, why keep it?

Well, after these last four years, Paul and I have realized we would like to downsize again. The older I get, the more I love the idea of having less “stuff” and less house to clean. I mean, why have three toilets to clean, when you only need and use two? Even if you don’t use all three toilets, you still have to clean them. (Ladies, I know you know what I am talking about!) Less is more. Having less stuff and less house to clean, gives you less to do, less to keep up with, and less to worry about. This, in turn, gives you more time and energy to focus on other things, and simply more freedom. Who doesn’t want that?

So, we are planning to move to a smaller home in about a year. And, we are both so looking forward to it. (Plus, this will give us plenty of time to go through everything we own and get rid of anything we no longer use. I am actually looking forward to cleaning up and cleaning out!)

(As an aside--have you ever heard of Marie Kondo? She wrote an international bestseller called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. In it, Marie talks about how our belongings can be seen as beings that help us live a good, comfortable life. And just like people, things don’t like to be neglected and forgotten about. If they don’t serve you, they would be much happier to serve someone else. This approach may seem silly, but I think it makes a lot of sense. Clutter creates stress and distraction. And, don’t we all have enough of that in our lives anyway without adding more?)

Now, back to task. As I grow in my spiritual life with the Lord, I have realized that having less clutter allows me to focus more of my attention on God. And, when I say clutter, I mean both the physical things that take up space in our daily lives and the mental junk that we tend to obsess over. And, oddly enough, I have found that as I get rid of more of the physical objects, the more my mental outlook clears up as well. It is kind of funny how that works!

When we have less to worry about, less “junk” on our minds, it allows us to put our attention and focus on what is really important in this life: God, ourselves, our family, our friends, and our relationships.

I don’t know about you, but I am in love with the idea of having less to keep up with, less to clean and look after, and less to worry about. What about you? Maybe you can join me in my year-long of cleaning up and cleaning out. I think that by doing this, we can all clear out the clutter of our lives and put more of our focus on God. Which is where it should be!