Lessons in Motherhood // Less is More

hey there hi there ho there

today lets talk about lessons in motherhood. i have found that the moment you get pregnant, you start learning so many things about life, and what it means to be a mom. things that are hard, ways to make life easier. you learn new priorities, and you learn what really doesn't matter anymore. you learn the new meaning of strength, you learn endurance, you learn patience, you learn about a deeper love. motherhood is just full of lessons. i've already learned an abundance of lessons in the past 16 months. i thought i would share some of them with you, because it may encourage you or remind you or help you. it also will help reinforce these lessons to myself so that i can better apply them to life.

the lesson i'm most recently learning is that less is more.

i've been watching a lot of Natalie Bennett on youtube (also a twin boy mom) and she talks a lot about minimalism, decluttering her home, and organizing. it's really been speaking to me lately. i don't think i'm the type of person to be "minimalist." i love clothes + shoes too much and i also am very sentimental. but the point of minimalism seems really important and doable to me. it seems helpful. it seems like a way that i can make my life and day-to-day easier.

when i came home with both babies, it was chaos. i mean, it feels that way with your first baby anyway, but i had two babies, so it was twice as chaotic. one was on oxygen, and we had just spent 19 days in a different city, living in a small missions apartment + trying to visit Asa as much as possible while learning to care for a newborn. I had postpartum depression and anxiety, and i was exhausted. basically i felt like i was drowning and i could not keep up with my house very well, and messes were a major trigger for my anxiety. no energy to clean + organize meant i felt anxious a LOT.

i also just didn't have time for myself really and that hasn't changed much. i hardly wear make up anymore, and my wardrobe is pretty small. why dress up when someone will spit up on me 25 times?!

my boys grew out of their clothes...so fast. and really for the first four months didn't play with toys.

i've learned that i just don't need as much. i don't need as many clothes, i don't need as much makeup, my boys don't need a ton of clothes, nor do they really need a lot of toys. that tub of unused candle making supplies? we don't really need that.

i don't need these things that are cluttering my house and my mind. i don't need the things that accumulate into a pile and cause me underlying stress.

to help me live a peaceful life, and make a peaceful home, i don't need as many things. that doesn't necessarily mean that my house needs to be spotless (impossible with children, right?!). but it will sure be easier to keep my house clean if i have less items to worry about and physically less to clean and organize.

less is more. if less stuff means more peace for myself and my family, it is worth it.

im slowly beginning the process of clearing out our home of unneeded items. and when i say slowly, i mean SLOWLY. it's going to take time, and it's going to be a process. one i will share with you as i go. it will be one bin here and one closet there. even the thought of getting some organizing done makes me excited and motivated. the thought of not having unused stuff everywhere already feels peaceful.

organizing does not come naturally to me. I don't have an eye for it and honestly it isn't my favorite thing. however i can easily get rid of stuff. it comes easy to me to say "haven't used this in a year? it's out!". that portion will be a piece of cake. the organizing, i think, will be easier when i have less to organize.

that's the lesson i'm in the middle of learning. I don't need as much as I once thought i did. and i'm excited for this journey. i'm excited to share it with you step by step as we go, as well!

are you more of a hoarder or more of a tosser? does organizing come naturally? if you have any strategies or tips, i would love it if you shared it in the comments below. I need all the help i can get!