Year of Mindfulness

This week marks the start of my fourth year of thrifting and along my thrifting journey, I’ve come to acquire a few things!  Firstly, and this is going to come as a surprise, I now have a sizable wardrobe.  I’m comfortable with it because the low price point of my purchases fit my budget, I constantly edit, and I keep my closet organized.  However, thrifting and secondhand shopping is not as much about the bottom line as it is about a new way of thinking – and that’s the second thing that I’ve gained since starting thrifting – a new perspective on consumerism.  This thrifting adventure has led me to all kinds of amazing people and I am changed.  I can’t pretend to not know about fast fashion.  I can’t pretend to not care about sustainability when I’m earnestly trying to teach my three children stewardship and citizenship.  I can’t pretend shopping local doesn’t matter when I have friends and family right here who are making their living making things available for me (and you).  With all this in mind, I decided to do things differently this year.

I am embarking on a year of mindfulness.  For me, this means mindful consumerism, mindful eating and mindful time management.  Like most things I try, I haven’t got a big master plan and I haven’t done a ton of research and I have no idea how it will go.  But here’s what I have in mind…

Like most women, I’m busy.  I juggle about a million balls and am often left feeling unsatisfied with how I used my time.  This year, I want to be more intentional about my time.  It will take some discipline because it’s much easier to just stay up till 1am and have an extra coffee the next day.  (I know I’m not the only one.)  I am fairly organized and know the value of routines but this year, specifically, I hope to make a habit of regular reading and exercise.  Because I’m getting dumb and fat.  Just kidding.  Sorta.

I’m hoping a mindful approach to my time will keep all the balls in the air AND let me do a bit more of what’s good for me.

I believe in the seasons of life, that there are seasons for different things including Costco Crack Chicago Mix.  I also know how I feel when I am in a season of vegetables and fruit and good food.  This year, I hope to develop more consistent and thoughtful habits when it comes to eating.  I am, er, getting older and I want to have energy and agility for my life.

This is the biggie – mindful consumerism.  The foundation of sustainability is not secondhand shopping, it’s consuming less and it has been on my mind for a while.  I read this book by Marie Kondo and finally I can envision an actual solution, an action plan for mindful shopping and managing my home.  I have a household of six, an acreage, a dog…  There’s a lot of stuff everywhere.  It’s overwhelming.  I do regular purges and organizing but it never lasts.

Instead this year, I will be focusing on one thing and one thing only:

I am a Christian so I’ll be taking a Christian approach and praying as I sort through my stuff, but regardless of your background, this question provides a simple, easy and accurate way to balance needs and wants.  Some wants are okay, as long as they bring joy and not burden to your life.

In her book, Marie Kondo recommends doing the big tidy all at once, which for most people means about 6 months.  So, over the next six months to a year, I will be going through the Konmari method with my family throughout my household, yes, including my closet!  I’ll share about the process along the way and try to be patient and not just do it in a weekend and go crazy.

The flip side of taking care of what goes OUT of my house is being mindful of what comes in.  For my kids, I’ve explained it as a “buy-nothing year” as in we will buy nothing but needed things except for birthdays and Christmas.  Just today, we talked about getting glow sticks for camping then realized that’s a want not a need.  They were disappointed for about a second then forgot about it.  No more little needless purchases here and there!  No more cluttering freebies – that’s for YOU, Mr. Style.  Even if it’s free, it doesn’t need to come home with you!  This year, we will continue to shop secondhand and shop local, and hope to live out the old saying “use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”  As for me and my wardrobe, well, I know I can survive on a 10-item wardrobe and I know how to shop a closet!  But, thrifting is therapy for me and blogging brings me joy SO my plan is to use my Splurge Sorority funds as my shopping budget this year.  It works out to $45/month and I think that is more than enough!  I will continue to shop local and support local artists and entrepreneurs and just ask myself “does this spark joy?” before I buy.

Furthermore, I think I can Konmari my closet, stick to my thrifting budget AND not repeat an outfit all year long!  So stick around to cheer me on!  Sign up for emails from The Spirited Thrifter (right at the top), follow along on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest – I even created a new Mindfulness Pinterest Board!

It’s going to be a great Year of Mindfulness!