The Reckoning

I have no idea how this happened, but I stumbled across this website about minimalism. It's so weird. I mean, minimalism is not weird. Maybe a little, but I think it's because we're still somehow ingrained to wantwantwant moremoremore and when we see people without, we (ok, maybe this is just me?) feel a huge need to givegivegive so their cabinets aren't empty are as full as mine. But there's this little part of me that kinda-sorta-maybe wants to be a tad minimalist myself. I blame it on my mom. I think she's becoming a hoarder. Not in the house full of crazy trash or dead cat bodies under piles of cereal boxes way. Rather a every single knick knack brings me joy and reminds me of some distant memory, even if the item is just reminding me of the item kind of hoarding. It's weird. My hubband keeps threatening that when she dies we'll just set the whole house on fire. In other news, my mother is slowing down her crazy metamorphosis into the crazy cat lady ... because she's down to like, say, eleven cats now.

I digress. Back to minimalism. (Sidenote: shouldn't posts about minimalism be one word? Two at most?) I discovered this site and I need to confess that parts of me want less. And then there's another part of me that loves to decorate and rearrange and have seasonal decor (which I'm pretty sure would break a hard and fast rule with minimalists) and so that means I need to have stuff. 

I bet a minimalist doesn't have plates they don't actually eat with. 

I confessed to my hubband about my minimal desires to be minimalist and he laughed at me. 

I told him about this amazing list of things to reduce in your home. He continued to laugh. Secretly I pledged to go through some of those things and begin to reduce the numbers. I don't have to get rid of everything, but I can reduce.

No real minimalist needs seven sample cans of paint. Along with minimalist tendencies comes the ability to pick paint with no samples. 

Then tonight we decided to clean out one of our kitchen cabinet hubs I walked into the kitchen to discover my hubband rifling through a less-than-orderly cabinet ... it stores medicine and candles and adoption paperwork and erasers and thumb tacks and sharpies and expired vitamins that were never even opened. You know the one. (Please tell me you have this kind of cabinet?) It made me cringe that he wanted to clean it out -- mostly because I don't want him cleaning things out that he doesn't know about. (Oh no, am I hiding things? Is that an early sign of hoarding?) We continued on, emptying out things, recategorizing things, etc. And it does feel nice. Then he suggested a new tradition. Every Monday night, before the trash cans make it to the curb, we should fill one up with things from inside that we don't need. At this point I am only slightly alarmed because I am hoping it won't last long, but a part of me is a little scared to see what he wants to clean out next. 

There has to be an exception to the rule somewhere.... I need seasonal decor!

What do you hold on to? Is there something that you know you could or should reduce but haven't? I hold onto things...please tell me I'm not alone. Are you addicted to buying dishes? My hubband told me again today that I am. Help a sister out and share your obsessions!