Clutter Free Lives- Meeting Recap

Living a Clutter Free Life

with Kathi Lipp

written by Joanna Metheny

                Having too much stuff cluttering up our homes is something that probably most moms of young children can relate to. Between the never ending cycle of clothes that are constantly being outgrown, to the piles of toys and stuffed animals that seem to appear out of nowhere, it’s easy for us moms to be inundated with just too much clutter. This week, our MOPS group got to hear a wonderful talk about Living a Clutter Free Life with Kathi Lipp, along with some solutions and inspiration on how to combat the clutter.

Kathi Lipp is an author and mother of four who spoke to something in a lot of us on Wednesday when she said that too much clutter can be closely tied with mental health, stress, and anxiety. The more things we have lying around in our homes, the more things we have to spend time and even money on maintaining, cleaning, and taking care of. All of this constant maintenance and mess can take its toll on us and even just looking at messes can increase our stress levels, which can in turn bring down the emotional energy in our homes, and cause us to make poor decisions and do things we don’t want to do, like yelling at our kids.

Lipp believes there are three main things that both encourage us to acquire things, as well as hold onto them. Fear of Missing Out, guilt, and shame are the three main drivers behind the acquisition of too much, and for those that struggle with shopping addictions or trouble making decisions to get rid of things, it’s worth some time doing a little self-introspection to see how these things might be affecting our choices.

She defines clutter as anything you don’t use, doesn’t function, or wouldn’t buy again. Someone at our table also mentioned a great clutter-clearing concept that I love from the well-known book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. When trying to clear clutter, Kondo suggests touching each item, and if it sparks a feeling of joy, it’s worth holding onto. If it doesn’t spark joy, get it out of the house. Obviously, this method isn’t foolproof, because I don’t know about you, but picking up a roll of toilet paper doesn’t exactly make me giddy, nor am I going to throw it away, but these ideas gave us a great jumping off point of how to make quicker decisions on what to keep and what to toss (or donate), and help loosen up some of the indecision that can arise when trying to distill our belongings.

The talk ended on a positive note, with Lipp reminding us that moms set the tone of the house, and we have a unique opportunity to plant the seeds of peace in our homes and within our families. One of the ways we can do this, is by making sure our possessions aren’t sucking the life out of our homes.

In order to jump start our personal cleaning efforts, Melanie has set up an inspiring decluttering challenge for us. Each day, for 30 days, she will be posting a short decluttering challenge, that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but can have a big impact on our environments and stress levels. The first two days included our socks and undies drawers, and toiletries. It has been truly inspiring seeing everyone’s before and after pictures, and I’m finding myself feeling more relaxed just looking at all the organized spaces. If you missed the talk or the first few challenges, you can still jump in at any point and join in the fun. Just head on over to our Facebook group every morning to see the daily challenge and start increasing the peace in your home.

“Clutter is anything that doesn’t bring you joy and stands in the way of the things that do.”
-Leah Martin

“We were never meant to live a life accumulating stuff. We were meant to live simply enjoying the experiences of life, the people of life, and the journey of life- not the things of life.”

-Joshua Becker

 "How full is your Plate" Activity

with Lynae