Last weekend, as I was cleaning my closet and putting summer clothes and shoes in the most accessible area, I noticed all of the empty space. I don’t mean that I’m short on things to wear. A month ago I saw that I had only a few hot weather tops, but after a couple of […]
Embracing a Slower Pace
The speed of my life has decelerated recently. Our baby girl was born two weeks ago—15 days before we expected her. On the day of her birth, I specifically told a friend, “I don’t even feel near the end of this pregnancy yet.” Boy was I wrong—hours later, I was holding little Emelia. While recovering […]
8 Minimalist Principles For Our Kids
Sometimes my kids are the biggest reminders of what it means to live life more intentionally. At a young age, their youthful innocence and unfiltered comments (often embarrassingly honest) resonate with me as they take in the world around them. The other day, my daughter made a remark that made me realize how much she […]
A Lesson in Gratitude
My husband Jon is a veteran teacher of 6th graders. These last couple of years – with Zoom meetings and online classes, then half-day on-campus sessions with half the class at a time, and eventually “normal” school with masking and other COVID protocols in place – have been frustrating, but have also inspired Jon and […]
Minimalism with a Family
My kids are four and seven. We have reached peak toy season in our home. Both my son and daughter own their own toys, love their toys, and have zero desire to get rid of any toys. My toy decluttering strategies of the past no longer work. I’ve tried bagging toys up and putting what […]
Permission to Let Go
One of the benefits of being a Disney+ subscriber is that I often watch (and re-watch) animated favorites with my kids. Recently my husband selected the movie Up, not realizing the first ten minutes are pretty heavy for our young boys. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the movie opens with the life story […]
How to Beat FOMO
Fun to say, but not so fun to live with, FOMO – the Fear of Missing Out – drove me toward debt and burnout. If you’re anything like me, around the age of 10 or 11 you started worrying about your clothing and hairstyle. Certain schoolmates were popular trendsetters, and their taste in fashion, music, […]
Kids Learn Contentment from Us
“How do I keep my kids from always wanting more stuff?” I have been asked this question countless times. It’s a hard one to answer—mostly because the answer includes something we don’t like to think about: our own actions. But the simple truth is this: We can’t expect our kids to stop constantly wanting new […]
The Pursuit of Happiness
Growing up in small-town Iowa, I was close to my grandmother. Our relationship, however, was far from a textbook version. Instead of learning how to bake pies, decorate cookies, or weave quilts, I learned how to shop. We’d stroll Des Moines malls for hours, retiring only once the weight of the stuff-filled bags in our […]
Minimalism is More Than Decluttering
When I tell people I’m a minimalist, they expect my home to look like a white box with a couple of chairs and a mattress on the floor. It surprises them that my husband and I own a useful amount of such things as furniture and kitchenware, as well as favorite art, books, hobby supplies, […]