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Browse published articles attributed to Bethany Rosselit, with full-archive search.
When I was a teenager, there was only one place to meet up with friends: the mall, of course! We'd catch up on gossip, walk around, have lunch, and absently make some purchases as we went. It was an enjoyable time, but my closet kept getting fuller. I'd purge the things, and it would fill up again. Not exactly compatible with a lower-waste lifestyle.
I am willing to wager that you have a secret. Your secret is a story--or many stories--that culminate in a shameful "truth" about yourself and who you think you are. You go through life hoping nobody discovers this truth. It would all fall apart if everybody figured out what you "really" are. Or maybe you're trying to bend reality, to make the most out of a difficult situation. Maybe if you can be strong, brave, and inspiring, then you won't come across as hurt, damaged, and unstable.
A client recently asked me what the difference was, between healing and loving yourself and being selfish. To that person, they appeared to be the same thing. Learning to love ourselves is an important step on our journey to grow in our emotional intelligence. Yet, fear of being selfish is a hurdle that many of us face, in our journey to self-love. We all want to be kind, decent people and discover and share our spiritual gifts. But what is the difference between loving and caring for ourselves, and being selfish?
What if there were no television, no Internet, and no parenting books? What would we do differently? Would we treat each other with more compassion? Would we feel better about ourselves? Would we have less anger? How would we raise our children, if we weren't constantly being told that we were doing it wrong? It was questions like these that led me to my belief that not only are the "mommy war" are stupid--they're not natural. And they don't exist.
The most important decluttering we can make is to remove mental clutter. Mental clutter is anything going around in your head, that is keeping you from achieving your dreams. Having a tidy, uncluttered house is great, but achieving the goals that you set at the beginning of this course will not be possible unless we tackle the mental clutter.
Everybody is busy. And we secretly think we like it that way. On Facebook, probably once a week I see a quotation being shared about the amount of time teachers work after hours. And these make me laugh, because I certainly wouldn't have time to be starting my own business, raising a child, having a marriage, and going to the gym, if I worked 20 hours a week outside of my work day! Stay-at-home parents are also insanely busy, according to Facebook. And yet my husband has timee to work from home, have plenty of hobbies, and run everyday.
Many of us are very good at trying to lose weight. We make resolutions, join gyms, exercise, follow a diet, resist sweets, research all the weigh loss tips we can find…We'll experience some weight loss, and even lose a few pounds in those first few weeks. And the next week, we'll experience stress and gain back those pounds--plus a few more. We were sure we knew how to lose weight, but we didn't succeed.
I remember the first time I experienced a "vulnerability hangover." I remember the exact date, to be exact. It was January 1, 2013. I had been blogging for nearly 2 years, sharing our adventures in sailing and minimalism. I had quit Facebook and started corresponding with friends via e-mail. These interactions were a huge part of my journey, and each of these friends pushed me to break away from the script given to us by society and realize the life that I actually wanted to live.
The past few weeks, we have been examining the benefits of decluttering and simple living. The studies make it clear that living a less cluttered life is beneficial not only for your mental health, but also for your family. The problem is that so many of us have so much clutter. Where can you even begin? Today I am challenging you to start establishing some good habits that will eventually lead to a calmer, less cluttered home. Choose any one of these decluttering mini-missions to help you get started:r
This month, I have been writing about the benefits of living a simple lifestyle. I have shown you have decluttering helps to reduce anxiety and to prevent the mind from becoming overwhelmed. Yet my posts have focused on adults living a simpler lifestyle. We often think that living minimalistically is only appropriate for adults, and possibly only single adults. Children need lots of toys to learn and grow, right? They need toys, and they need a schedule full of enrichment activities.
Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.” –The Minimalists
We are all surrounded by clutter. Everywhere we look, everywhere in our life, there is too much. There is too much to do. There is too much to buy. There is too much to worry about. There are too many obligations. There is too much stress. And the heart of the "too much" often lies in our homes. We have dishes we never use, clothing we never wear, food we never eat, hobbies we never engage in. Our society is always pushing us toward more. We need MORE: We need the latest and greatest electronic gadgets. We need clothing that is in style.
I wrote last week about the benefits that simplicity has on maintaining your mental health. There was a great deal of interest in that topic and in the e-course that I am going to be offering on Simple Living Basics. But the question came up: what exactly is voluntary simplicity?