One of my goals for the year was to completely de-clutter my life. Not only did I want to downsize the amount of ‘things’ I had but also the amount of negative energy and relationships I had. It’s only half way through 2015 (that sounds scary) but I feel like I’m making a great stride toward that de-cluttering.

When I realized a few months ago that I would be moving across country again this summer, I knew the only way that would work is to really, truly get rid of half of the nonsense that I owned. I was going to need to sell, donate, and throw ¾ of my belongings if I even had a prayer of it all fitting in my car. The Jetta, as you might imagine, isn’t very big. She’s a nifty little thing whom I love so much, but she just isn’t ideal for packing your life up in. Yes, my entire life had to fit in my Jetta. Talk about scary, yet amusingly enough a refreshing thought.

And so the de-clutter began. I was reminded very quickly, how much I don’t like to have things. It was so easy for me to throw away old clothes, shoes, knick-knacks and basically junk that I have collected over the years. I ended up making several trips to the Goodwill but I feel so refreshed. It’s amazing how limiting the amount of belongings you don’t need in your life can lift some weight off your shoulders. I frequently wonder why, as Americans, we find it pleasurable to collect things. Why do we need it? I don’t know about you but I don’t even like to dust very much, why do I want to keep things that are just going to get dusty and that I’m going to have to clean every three weeks? Its nonsense. Experiences. Memories. That’s what I want to collect. Those are the things I want to spend my money on and the things I want to fill my life with.

The second part of de-clutter has to do with energy, people and relationships. I often find myself subconsciously and periodically cycling through relationships in my life. It takes some encouragement but shifting the negative energy from your life is just as freeing (if not more) as getting rid of junk. Of course, it’s not as easy to throw away a relationship, the history and the memories you share. However, sometimes the negative energy isn’t worth the memories. It’s better to silently transition away.

Life is short. Way too short and we need to remember it doesn’t do to dwell on the past, clutter our lives with negative energy or spend our lives slaving away to the man just so we can afford the next ‘greatest’ item for sale this month. Go live. Go distress. Go de-clutter. Make space for positive people, positive experiences and things that truly make you happy.