Organized Simplicity, by Tsh Oxenreider
It seems fitting that my first post in my English blog
would be about Tsh’s book. Her blog Simple Mom is one of the reasons why I fell
in love with the blogging world! I actually stumbled upon it during last year’s
Project Simplify. I loved the idea of purging for the sake of organizing. I had
always purged while organizing, but
never with the intention of getting rid of stuff- it would simply happen.
I digress. Anyway, I heard she had a book out and made
it my first kindle book purchase. She was actually giving it away for free, but
as I live in Brazil, I couldn’t grab it. I was a bit hesitant in paying for it, since I am pretty
organized, as I figured it would be 99% of common sense.
Boy, was I wrong. First of all, the focus of this
book, in my opinion, is not the organizing itself. It’s about how much clutter we surround ourselves with, and
how much better our lives can be with
less. She talks about all types of excess: stuff, spending, and too many
commitments.
I have always considered myself a bit of a frugal
person. It took me a good four years to convince myself that an Ipod or a
Kindle would be a good purchase. I own less than five purses and less than
fifteen shoes. I have three pairs of jeans. All in all, I figured I have much
less stuff than most of my
girlfriends.
Until I ready Tsh’s book. I didn’t feel guilty, but as
she went on, I couldn’t help but thinking about the stuff I have and never
wear. Never use. Never remember. And it’s all there, taking up space in my tiny
home. Now that’s what I call a
mind-blowing-life-altering book.
On March 5th, this year’s Project Simplify
kicks off. And I can’t wait. I have been thinking about some items non-stop,
and even considered starting ahead of the game. But I figured I better not. I
still need some time to digest everything. I’ll spend the next two weeks paying
attention to my things, and making mental notes of what I really use. That way,
I’ll be sure to have some happy-no-guilt-involved purging.
