Back to Simplicity

Advent starts on Sunday and I don’t feel ready for it at all! November has been a whirlwind of a month. We’ve travelled to Iceland, I went to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate with my daughter and a dear friend, I’ve had uni tutorials in Liverpool and enjoyed the company of friends visiting. It’s been busy but filled with lovely things. November ends in the manner it started with a big event. My youngest is writing her SAT exam on Saturday! If we get the results we are hoping for it means she has pretty much-finished homeschooling!

I think that we are ready to finish up our homeschooling season now. I’m looking forward to seeing what direction she will be taking. She really wants to travel next year so we are looking into various opportunities – it’s so exciting watching my daughters find their way and spread their wings.

We have had some rather chilly weather of late but oh my…I just love what the approaching winter is already giving up. Frost freezing each fallen leaf and blade of grass, lots of lovey cosy fires, candles and fairy lights – all these small things are to be cherished. 

For those of you who have been visiting me here over the years, you will know that I am all about appreciating, seeking and delighting in the simple things. I love to live my faith and observe the liturgical year. I love homespun everything, the gentle rhythms of the natural year and country life. 

Lately, I have felt that the simplicity that I have always tried to nurture in my home seems to be eluding me. Simplicity can easily be lost as we slowly add to our lives, a bit like a bringing in more ‘stuff’ into our homes. It comes in subtly until suddenly you realise that you are in need of a good clear out, a destash and declutter. It’s those subtle things that creep in and begin to clutter up life so that the simplicity is lost.

I’ve been analysing what it is that is cluttering up my life stealing my simplicity peace and have identified one or two things. Instagram was one of those things so…I got rid of it. Instagram is lovely and inspiring and many good things, but it was becoming a habit and time waster for me. I found myself scrolling through my feed numerous times a day, picking up my phone far too many times an hour. I thought back to the time I didn’t have it, to the conversation I had with a friend who told me I should really try IG – it was so nice. I can remember that day and that conversation so clearly and for 4 years I’ve been a slave to it – so it seems to me. I remember feeling a lot less burdened before it and I yearned for that feeling of freedom again. So on Tuesday morning I woke up and just did it. I deleted IG and I instantly felt a burden fall away.

No regrets. No feeling like I’m missing out. I’ve found that I have so much more time to do things that I love and things that need to be done. I haven’t missed it one bit and have no intention to bring any more social media ‘clutter’ into my life.

The other thing I got rid of this week was a WordPress site that I bought nearly two years ago. I had planned to transfer this blog over to WordPress but it just didn’t feel right. I like my little spot here, I’ve grown attached after having blogged here for 8 years. Yet, at the back of my mind that WordPress site niggled at my peace. Thoughts like, “You should use it you’ve paid for it” kept nagging. Should I start another blog? What would I blog about? I don’t really have an interest in starting a ‘professional’ blog. I like being real and sharing right here. I don’t want to have to churn out posts that tell people how to do things all the time.

Can you guess what I did? Yip – it followed the same fate of IG. I got rid of it. I hit the ‘cancel this account’ button and that is that. It’s gone forever now I don’t need to entertain any more nagging thoughts. FREEDOM! 😂

Do you have to declutter your life from time to time to simplify? What sort of things do you find creeping in and stealing your peace? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time…