Good morning.
I am a chronic declutterer. I don’t even keep duplicates of things because I feel like they take up too much space. I love airy, open spaces—no paintings on the walls, no tiny decorative pieces scattered around. Everything I own is purely functional. If something isn’t being used, I declutter it.
I’ve been this way for the past ten years. I started simplifying my life in 2015, and at one point, it became so extreme that when I went to my home, I only had two sets of dishes—one plate, one cup, and one spoon for myself, and the same for my husband. When we had a child and a nanny, I added a few more dishes, but I kept things minimal. I constantly decluttered my clothes and shoes, often giving them to our househelp or caretaker. I even remember decluttering my mum’s things and giving them to our caretaker, who then sold what she didn’t need and made a little money from it.
This morning, something interesting happened. I don’t like it when my child wears clothes that no longer fit her, but she always gravitates toward the familiar ones, even when they’ve become too small. So today, I decided it was time to clear them out. We started sorting—clothes to keep, clothes to give away, and clothes to trash. That’s when I witnessed something so pure.
My daughter responded exactly how Marie Kondo advises people to react when decluttering. For those who don’t know, Marie Kondo is a global expert in decluttering and organisation. I watched my daughter hug each of her clothes and say goodbye to them. She hugged her unicorn t-shirt and said, “Bye, unicorn.” She hugged another one with a love heart and said, “Bye, love.” Then another with a rainbow and said, “Bye, rainbow.”
She has never seen me do this when decluttering, so where did she learn it from? Yet here she was, letting go of her clothes while showing them love before releasing them. My heart felt so full seeing that kind of gentleness and appreciation in her. I love that for her.
Remember at the start of the year, taking her to her new school was a huge struggle? Today, she willingly let go of her old school uniform and agreed that we could take it back to the school so the teachers could give it to children who might not have uniforms. These small moments make me so happy. I’ve taught my daughter not to be attached to things, and I can see that lesson settling in.
We’ve also decluttered her toys—she chose what to keep, and we burned the rest. It feels so good to have a more organised space. I’ll share a video of her hugging her clothes and saying goodbye to them.
Have a beautiful day. 🖤