Spring clean!!

​Hello! Its been a while but hoping to get back to regular posts on allnewgreenlife.  Its Spring!! Are you on to a Spring Clean already? It’s a strange combo of experiences, after filling our houses at Christmas and New Year with decorations, food, presents, new furnishings etc. We are inside so much more due to dark nights and colder days.  By the time spring comes we can feel quite claustrophobic. Then the lighter days seem to highlight all the little things that were hidden. Dusty corners, over full cupboards and grubby marks. We all feel a need to freshen our homes up.
Decluttering – Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor. It’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living. Peter Walsh
Pretty bold statement! Can getting rid of your possessions help you move forward to a new life?
Since January there have been as many online challenges to de-clutter your house as there are tv programs about it and the whole world seems to be talking about Tidying up with Marie Kondo!
Not seen it yet? It’s the newest in many programs over the years that are dedicated to helping hoarders and hogger's alike, get rid of whatever is filling up their houses and holding them back in life. It has a nice twist as the main lesson is you only keep what gives you joy.
What in your house gives you joy?
There is a great deal in my house that gives me joy. Call me sentimental but its hard. Gifts from my children, items that hold memories, things that have comforted in hard times, any of these and more reasons create that ‘I can’t get rid of it!’ feeling of panic.
And when you have others (husbands/kids/flatmates) living with you how do you help them declutter? My version of junk is very different from my husbands and my daughter doesn’t think she has any junk!!
Finally, when you do decide on what’s going, the big question ‘where does this go when I bin it?’ arises.
 My concern about polluting the planet with more rubbish is valid and very topical. With some items not always suitable for the charity shop or recycling, where will it all go? And if everyone is de-cluttering are we about to see another massive influx of pollution/plastic on the planet?
And what happens once you do manage to empty cupboards, shelves and toyboxes and make that calming space?
Do we just fill it back up again?
After my spring clean my house isn’t crazy full but for the last 2 years, I have been working on the problem from the opposite end…thinking and questioning before buying!!
Before buying I always ask
Do I/we need this?
Is this just an impulsive buy?
What purpose does this item have?
When I no longer need it where will it go?
Is it recyclable or reusable?
This has probably saved me from excessive amounts of new clutter and extra housework. This has hopefully reduced my carbon footprint and my impact on the environment. (by not buying in the first place). In the grand scale has it improved my life???
We are always looking for new goals to set ourselves, ‘Life will be better when’ sentences that deplete what is true happiness. True happiness is when you appreciate what you have, family, friends, home, health, food, warmth. The Simple things if we find comfort in this, we don’t need to hoard in the first place.
Maybe Marie Kondo is right. Keep what gives you joy

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