I long for simplicity in life. I am a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. I don’t contour and highlight make up. I can’t tell you what a lowlight vs highlight even is. Stripes are about as far as I venture with clothing. I actually despise shopping.
I like bare walls and empty spaces in my house. I don’t like background noise all the time. Fancy restaurants aren’t appealing, especially if the tables are small.
When I see clothes piling up or toy baskets overflowing, I begin gathering and donating. I am a minimalist to the core. Clutter makes me crazy. Stuff sends me into a downward spiral. Items in my home must serve a purpose. They must have a function. Less, less, less is what I desire.
But this world. This wonderful world we live in pulls us into the tornado of more. More of everything. More stuff, more activity, more trips, more food, more…more…more. It is never enough. I fear in all the stuff and striving we have missed how to just be.
Just Be.
Be quiet. Be still. Be calm. Be peaceful. Be present. Be content. Be enough.
While I long for the simple, this world is constantly knocking at my door for more. I find I have to be on guard for this battle and braced in what I want or I will fall into the allure of more.
I’m fighting to teach my kids it’s okay to be bored, to have nothing to do, to stay home the entire day. I want them to know that not every meal is a feast nor will they like every meal. I ache for them to be creative and to lock arms with people, not cling to their things. I want them to breath the air and feel the warmth of the sun. I want them to notice the small things throughout their days and train their minds to slow down a bit.
But how? This world is fast and we tend to move along with it, never questioning the whys of what we’re doing. We have a few family principles that have helped us stay grounded in who we are and slow down a bit in this face paced life.
1. Meals around the table
We have dinner with everyone around our table several evenings a week. Notice I didn’t say every night because that’s not realistic for us. While one child may be gone to an extracurricular activity or my husband may be working late, when we can we are intentional about everyone eating together. Now, we may be eating frozen pizza, but we are all together.
2. Have less stuff
When we bring in a new toy or shirt, we donate a toy or shirt. I have found that my kids get just as overwhelmed as I do with too much. They can stand in a room of toys, but can’t find anything to play because there are just too many options.
3. More outside time
We are outside almost every day. This is where they can explore, imagine and play, but also have space and breath the air. Fresh air is just what the soul requires most days and getting booboos and dirty is a staple of being a kid.
4. No technology days
We call for no technology days or weekends when we see electronics becoming consuming. When our kids cannot default to their electronics, their brains are able to do some pretty creative things. Sure some of them aren’t overjoyed initially, but no technology days end up being our best days as a family.
While these principals are simple, that’s precisely the point. We tend to complicate things, but kids, they just want to be kids. When things seem to get a little too chaotic in our home, I revert back to the basics and find that’s where we find the peace and serenity we all need.
I know our lives will continue to get busier and change as our kids grow, but I’m hoping that by placing some perimeters in place now, we can always return to a little bit of simplicity.
