Happy New Year, friends! It is the start of a new year. Are you excited? Are you inspired? Or are you tired and are ready to slow down a bit?
The husband and I bought a 1980’s fixer-upper in the summer of 2021. We have been remodeling so it has been one project after another. This summer I switched jobs. There has been so much change in our lives for years. I am ready to take a step back and move at a slower pace.
A couple of weeks ago, I made the decision that this was going to be the start of my year of less. Less working. Less perfectionism. Less worry. Less guilt. Maybe even a little less stuff. I want to stop wasting so much of my short life on things I don’t enjoy and are not required to do.
What I want to do instead is to spend more time living my life. I want to lay out on the lovely patio the husband and I have put together and read. We completed a major pool renovation this past summer. We are often too busy to spend more than a few minutes outside every day. This makes me sad and I want to change it.
My husband surprised me with 2 new cookbooks for Christmas. I haven’t read each book all the way through, but very excited about these books! I want to make a bunch of recipes I have never made before. I want to master some basic sauces. I want to become a better cook.
I want to finally clean out my closet. I haven’t worn most of my clothes in 4 years. I would like to use that space so I can find the clothes I love a little faster. I want my closet to be super organized. There is no reason why I can’t make this happen with what I have. I just need less.
Most of the items on my list look a lot like to-do’s or simple action items. However, they represent more to me. They represent the way I want to spend my time outside of my job. My job has consumed so much of my life for so many years. It also consumed so much of my money. When I wasn’t working weekends or working late, I was often shopping for clothes I needed for the right impression at work. After a long day, I would often be too tired to cook, exercise, or do much more than go to sleep. That was not living. That was surviving.
This year will be better. This year I will live.
