Friday 26 July 2024
I recently realized that, about a month ago, I passed my first-year anniversary of pursuing a slow and simple lifestyle, and I thought it would be a great time to reflect, sharing some lessons learned along the way, as well as my basic slow and simple lifestyle goals for the upcoming year.
Beginning to Live Slowly and Simply: A Catalyst for Change. My journey to a slower, simpler life officially started toward the end of last June when I felt completely overwhelmed. I was juggling more responsibilities than ever before: I was working full-time remotely after being a stay-at-home mother for most of my adulthood, managing our home practically by myself, and taking care of our new, energetic German Shepherd puppy. It was a lot, and I decided something needed to change. I was inspired by Luke 10:38-42 to officially begin my slow and simple lifestyle and by Matthew 22:37-40 to set rudimentary goals. I wanted to focus on loving God and loving others by simplifying my comprehensive routines. Decreasing tasks on my Dockets enabled me to begin to form the habits of being present and slowing down, and to prioritize relationships over especially obsessively cleaning.
About a month later, by the end of July, I managed to simplify my routines to the bare minimum, which began to release time for me to focus more on other things that matter to me, too, like my family and hobbies. But then, we started homeschooling in early August, and that was the straw that broke this camel’s back. Meanwhile, our home was becoming cluttered, and it was adding to my stress. After having emotional breakdowns and shutdowns from the weight of all of my responsibilities, I decided to systematically and ruthlessly declutter the entire house, except for the children’s rooms, over the course of a month. This simple decluttering effort began to help me reduce the amount of time spent maintaining our home, making life a bit more manageable.
Is This the Secret to Work-Life Balance? By November, I learned a lesson about work-life balance. I used to dissociate and hide behind survival mode whenever I became overwhelmed. I was trying to control every aspect of my life with the perfect routine. But, I realized that maintaining work-life balance wasn’t about having the perfect schedule to be followed without fail. It’s about embracing anxiety and overwhelm as growth opportunities and trusting that everything will work out for good to those who love God. With encouraging relief, I began to change my attitude, accepting that chaos and messiness are part of life, and that trying to control every variable is futile.
Embracing Self-Love: Balancing Personal Care and Love for Others. In January of this year, I explored the concept of self-love and its impact on my relationships. For a long time, I wondered if self-love and self-care were selfish, vain, or even prideful. I seriously struggled to have a full cup, especially in marriage and motherhood, without wondering if I was being selfish. But, I realized that true self-love is essential for healthy, balanced living. The Bible teaches us to love others as we love ourselves, which means caring for our well-being, too. Self-love, involving simple practices – like sleep, exercise, and setting boundaries – is not selfish, but it’s necessary. By prioritizing self-care, setting firm boundaries, and practicing gratitude to especially our Heavenly Father, I’ve found that I am more present and authentic in my relationships.
Finding Balance Between Cleaning and Simplicity. By February, I began to confront my obsession with cleaning, particularly zone cleaning. I realized this obsession stemmed from a desire for control due to severe childhood trauma. Inspired by The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, I realized that I didn’t have to carry this burden alone. So, over the next month or two, I replaced my cleaning routine with basic morning and evening tidy routines, allowing me to clean and mostly tidy the entire house in less than two hours a day. This shift began to transform cleaning from an obsessive need for perfectionism to a practice of contentedness and joy in my Savior, helping me care for my surroundings without letting it dictate my worth or consume my thoughts.
By early April, I noticed that our house was becoming cluttered and messy again during the transition of my job loss at the end of March; and, I realized that the causes of this chaos were that we weren’t being all that intentional about what we brought into the house, and primarily that we weren’t cleaning up after ourselves immediately. As a remedy, I began a more comprehensive decluttering and organizing project to refresh each space of our house, and I more extensively re-evaluated my cleaning systems. Through that process, I was finally able to completely eliminate zone cleaning and create new daily and weekly cleaning routines that I’ve been mostly consistent with since then, though we’re all still learning to clean up after ourselves immediately. We’re slowly improving, though.
Slow and Simple Reset Amidst a Season of Murphy’s Law. Most recently, by the beginning of July, which was the beginning of my second year of pursuing a slow and simple lifestyle, I learned to find peace in Christ amidst a season of Murphy’s Law. During late spring and earlier this summer, it seemed like almost everything that could go wrong did. Through financial strain due to my job loss, a frustrating job search, and multiple broken appliances, I was reminded of the importance of slowing down and finding joy in simplicity. These experiences reminded me to appreciate the small things, like the calming processes of daily tasks, and they reinforced my trust and hope in the Lord, as well as my commitment to a slow and simple lifestyle.
It’s been a year filled with highs and lows, but amidst the chaos and the calm, I’ve found solace in adopting a slow and simple lifestyle, just as Jesus taught us by example during His brief time here on earth. My journey began with a need to bring more peace and contentment into our home, and my first year ended with a bit of struggle that turned into a reset filled with hope and gratitude at the start of my second year.
As I move forward, my slow and simple lifestyle goals for the upcoming year include continuing to simplify our home, adopting low-waste practices, and focusing on natural living. This means being more mindful of our consumption, reducing waste, and choosing natural alternatives for cleaning and everyday living. It’s going to be a journey towards sustainability that aligns perfectly with my values of simplicity and intentional living. Additionally, I want to continue to deepen my relationships with God and my loved ones, continuing to embrace more of the many principles of slow and simple living.
As for my YouTube channel logistics, I want to share more tips and tricks with you so we can all journey towards a slower and simpler lifestyle together. So, as part of my effort to provide more value to you and monetize my channel, I’m so thrilled to announce my new posting schedule. I did publish a community post about it on Monday, so you can go and check it out for all the details. But, basically, I’ll be trialing two videos a week – instead of only publishing one video every Friday, I’ll be publishing a video every Tuesday as well. I hope you’ll enjoy the new schedule and find inspiration to slow down and simplify your lives in each video and community post. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me!
Simply Amber Marie 