have nothing in my house that I do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful

As the new house slowly moves toward completion, I occasionally find myself imagining how I want to live in that space. It’s a great way to urge myself forward on this and several other goals related to the quantity and quality of the stuff I’ll include in my life.

I imagine moving in slowly, perhaps over the course of a month, during which time I move only the things that are useful and/or beautiful. Nothing more. I imagine that there might be a few things that I will not be sure about, so I hold off moving them until I am sure.

I don’t know if I will have the luxury of a slow move. But if I do, I hope I can be as methodical as I imagine. Thinking about this goal is helping it seem possible, realistic, and VERY appealing! What a relief to get rid of so many things I’ve carried with me because for a variety of reasons I felt like I “had to.” No more!

gives me great hope for this goal. I must confess to a frustration, though. I feel dedicated to this goal. But I am not the only person who will be living in the house. I’m estimating that I am the only one of the four of us who is really excited about this opportunity. It’s a little discouraging.

What I’m telling myself, however, is that if I am courageous enough to be as drastic with my self-discipline as will be required to achieve the goal with my own possessions, then perhaps others will be inspired, at least to some degree?! Maybe they will notice how beautiful the spaces that are essentially “mine” to manage have become? I am trying to be hopeful! I will not give up. But I may have to accept that others do not share my goal in their spaces.

are beginning to help with this. But as I go through things, I also recognize that there are some more complicated “ethical” aspects to this goal … really coming down to the definitions of “useful” and “beautiful.” It’s the “eye of the beholder” thing, which can have so much baggage behind it. Is this thingamajig really beautiful? Or does my nostalgia about it persuade me to think of it as more beautiful as I might otherwise? And who says that kind of “persuasion” is against the rules? I think of an older, loving couple I know; he often tells her how beautiful she is. If he were suddenly 20 again but she remained her current age, would he still find her as beautiful? Which judgment is more valid? Hopefully you get my point.

Anyway, for all this pontificating, I must admit that I haven’t found that I have an awful lot of nostalgia for much of anything. Mostly I feel pretty flat about “things.” So that means it’s usually not so hard to evaluate the beauty aspect. Useful? Well, that’s a whole ‘nother story!

1. This only applies to my room and “public spaces;” the kids can have whatever they want in their own bedrooms.
2. I will implement this weeding out process over the next six months. I will use decluttering, garage sales, getting rid of stuff I don’t need, and going through the storeroom boxes as part of my path to achieving this goal.
3. I will remember that just because I thought something was beautiful 20 years ago doesn’t mean I am obliged to agree today!