As fall moves into winter I always find myself reflecting on the current year and thinking forward to the year ahead. This year I've been thinking a lot about life in general, goals and priorities. All the heavy stuff that has a way of keeping you up at night. Sometimes it all feels very humbling, sometimes it feels exciting, the air feels thick with the anticipation of whats to come and all the possibilities life holds.
I have a tendency to feel like I can take on the world - in a day. And then get so very disappointed when that obviously doesn't happen. Yet I've also realized that I underestimate what I could get done in an hour, or a week, or a year. If I would just get started and then stick with something for awhile.
A wise man once told me you can only do so many things at once. And I've found that to be very true. In general I have great aspirations for a bunch of things - to keep up the house, cook healthy meals, keep up this blog and make stuff, be active and take care of my health and have a family. And I also still work full time and have bills to pay. And when you think about all that for a sec, well it sounds a bit overwhelming.
Recently, I feel like I've been craving routine, craving a familiar schedule. And I keep having this urge to get rid of literally everything. (Don't worry, I could never actually pull the trigger on something like that.) But Joe and I keep talking about this idea of minimalism and what that would look like for us. And while we have a pretty good idea of what it wouldn't look like - a stark empty white house - we haven't exactly landed on what it would look like.
Yesterday I shared a giant list of what I would love to 2015 to look like, which in a sort of inverse way leads to my one little word - the idea that has been circulating and percolating in my head for the last several months. LESS.
Less is not fancy, it doesn't have a nice ring to it. But it feels right, it feels real, it feels authentic for the current moment. What does less look like? Right now it means less stuff, less mental clutter, cutting out the stupid stuff that didn't really matter in the first place. It means less pressure on myself to be perfect and to give myself permission to let the less important things slide. It means figuring out where my priorities really are.
To have more, to do more and be more, you have to have less first. That's just how it works, you can only do so many things at once. I love the saying "have less, do more" - that's what I want 2015 to look like. I'm excited!
What about you? Did any of you pick out One Little Word for this year?
