Minimalism & Organizing: A Reason to Celebrate

Unfortunately, when I share my passion for organizing, too many people respond with a sense of shame, and that is disheartening to me. How we manage our home should always be a celebration. Neither minimizing or organizing should be seen as better or worse, but rather as different styles of mothering, or caring for our loved ones.

Organizing is how, when and why we keep items. It is about living an orderly life. It not only relates to where we store our stuff, but how we move through our spaces. It also relates to how we store items. An organizing mother, might have her children’s toys in boxes clearly labeled with pictures of the toys that belong in the bins.

In contrast, Minimalism is what we don’t keep. It is living as simply as possible. Minimalists live in (or are attracted to) tiny homes. We might like items that serve multiple functions. For instance, minimalist might have a coffee table that can convert into a dining room table. They might have what is called a capsule wardrobe, where in someone owns and wears as little as 37 items of clothing. A minimalist mother may own only 2 or 3 toys for their child.

The main difference between minimalism and organizing is sentimentality — truth is some of us are more sentimental than others. For some of us, that warm blanket from our passed grandparents warms our hearts and keeps us safe. And that is okay. For others of us, we connect to our passed grandparents without that blanket. And is okay too.

Finding, and accepting our style is mothering ourselves. For those of us who spend our waking and sleeping hours managing someone else’s shoes and teeth, one gift we can give ourself is permission to keep grandma’s blanket or donate it.

Whether we have empty counters, or appliances stored on our counters, we should all honor the ways we protect and care for our families.