hey all - so yeah I kinda went MIA again! Not overly by choice - its been a crazy summer already! Between started up my agency and really diving in head first, to literally spending the last 5 days with the most awful cold ever! Yes friends, I am a woman who caught a man cold! THE WORST kinds of cold because they are just so much more dramatic and exhausting! Needless to say, spending two days by the pool with some amazing friends was well deserved over this long weekend haha!
"what are you writing about next?!" - every one of my handful of friends LOL
honestly no idea. I thought when I started this blog that I would have ideas pouring out of me. Yeah not so much lol! Life gets busy, life gets boring, life is life. This summer I have been in toronto for a week and then out to vancouver for a week and then home for a few days and then here I am back in toronto! And trust me, the next 2 months doesn't settle down much! I will be selling 4 brands - YES 4, don't worry I will update the wholesale page soon so yall are up to date too - my brother from another mother Tom is coming to canada for the first time from australia, I am taking him on a tour of well... canada haha! And then back to mexico again in there somewhere?! I don't know I have already lost track lol. Anyways the point was that thinking of shit to write about sometimes isn't easy!
>> warning this is a long post - I don't know why don't judge me <<
right before my first trip to toronto this summer I wanted to really look into starting to transition my lifestyle into a more minimalist way. Crazy right?! ME!! But the truth is I don't thrive in chaos like I used to. I am almost 30, my university lifestyle doesn't cut it anymore. So like anyone my age I took to pinterest to help get started and it turns out minimalism according to pinterest is kinda bullshit.
*COLLECTIVE GASP*
yeah yeah - hold your fucking panties I don't mean total bullshit, just kinda bullshit.
I just mean that its fucking hard to pick a 'pin' and decide that THAT is how you are going to live your life now! One of the first things that came up was a 30 day minimalism challenge.
#1 Purge your wardrobe - okay, not so bad. I mean I needed to go visit Chelsea @ the consignment store in dv anyway! *SHOUT OUT to the polka dot boutique in dv* And thats it, thats day 1! Moving on, #2 Clean your handbag - #3 Toss out old socks - #4 get rid of digital devices - #5 Empty your wallet - how did this challenge all of a sudden start looking like a to-do list for a weekend clean up?!
I didn't make it much farther than that into the list - I mean challenge - after that (I'll attach it for yall though) because I realized that I had no idea how minimalism was going to fit into MY life. So then I had to ask - what is it? What the fuck is minimalism? Is it honestly just cleaning out your shit, loving your friends more, meditating and journaling? Because I do that and I don't feel more grounded like they say. And then I came across this:
"minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it" ― Joshua Becker, Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life
what are the things I value most? and what distracts me from them?
I just opened a whole other can of worms with that one - but I decided I am going to work in 7's. I picked 7 things that I wanted to focus on - there are 7 days in a week - I am reading a book that talks about the 7 guiding principles to help declutter & shit - and I like to gamble so those 7's popping up are all sorts of good luck right?!
Here it is folks
Misty-dawn's full attempt at minimalism!!
My 7 weekly focuses:
#1 Wake up & eat breakfast before diving into work - of course I check my phone when I wake up but I want to start my mornings off for me, not my phone. Goal: 5 out of 7 mornings I will not jump into any work that is not emergent until I am done eating breakfast.
#2 Practice mono-tasking - I have always been a multi-tasker but as I get older I see that my tasks are becoming more important and deserve my full attention. Goal: 2 hours each day are solely dedicated to getting through a mono-task to-do list, whether it if work or personal.
#3 Keep my inboxes clear - I am famous for never deleting emails and it is starting to make life really hard. Having to sort, getting those pesky "your inbox is almost full" notifications, and well I get 80+ new emails a day... Goal: Every sunday I will take 45mins and clean out old emails, or emails that are of no use anymore.
#5 Tidying daily - Please like this post if yall remember the 10 second tidy! Thats the plan, I hate waking up to a little mess I made the day before and having to grudgingly deal with it. Goal: 10 minute daily tidies. Getting rid of clutter, stress & mess.
#6 - Having less "stuff guilt" - Yes I made it up but yes its a thing. I feel so guilty getting rid of "things" whether they are clothes or gifts or random shit from other countries. But I do NOT have room in my life for the guilt or the stuff. Goal: When purging or tidying if I come across something I feel I should get rid of but feel the "stuff guilt" I will write down in a journal my favourite memory of that thing or who gave it to me or whatever, take a picture of it, and then donate it. Written memories last way longer than things do.
#7 - Intentional spending - This is probably my biggest challenge. Goal: When making a purchase, this item must have a purpose and will answer questions such as "Do I need it? Do I have something like it? Will I use it daily, weekly? Where will I store it?" No more impulse buying.
All 7 days of the week will be changed with 4 of the 7 focuses - these will eventually turn into habits and I will have to modify and move forward. But a start is a start :)
No I am not a "minimalist" according to social norm - my chaos is by no means under control yet - but my life is my life and I cannot wait to see the effect these minimal changes will have! And don't worry, you'll hear about all the ups and downs lol
But for now, #5 is calling my name after fully completing #2 :)
chat soon // misty-dawn x
