living with intention

I've always had things.  Not in a privileged sort of way, but in a work my ass that I like to see rewards kind of way.  I have never been a shopaholic (its not my therapy), I don't care about name brands or expensive foods- nothing wrong with that, just not my thing.  However, I like good deals, little trinkets, old stuff & trying new things and so that's what I tend to buy.  In an effort to always make every place we lived feel like a home even with things we've had since college, you can imagine I accumulated a lot.  Thats when the idea happened. One year ago we sold (practically) everything we owned and moved out to my parents farm to live in an airstream.

We kept 4 boxes of items, clothes we still liked, our tv & all of my studio (because I still needed to work!).  Everything else was carried away by friends and strangers at a yard sale we quickly put together.  I remember being nervous, but as things sold I wanted to gather more and get rid of it too.  Now when I think back, I can hardly remember the things we had.  Of course we have new things here, but our plan was simple-  Start new- save - pay off & move.  Which we did.  

Its been about six months since we moved up to Portland and although I already want to live closer in to the city and have a different house my attitude towards material items has changed.  Every purchase I make has a little more thought, I save as much as I can and even just started a new little budget last week that totally put me in check!  I still thrift and try to snag things that I know I will love and use with intention, especially if its unique and can stand the test of time.

One thing that was never touched when we did all this, was my work space.  Over the months every time I try to do anything in my office/studio/whatever you call it- I've felt anxiety over the amount of things I was holding on to.  I would try to unpack and come to stuff that I thought I would use someday- which really is like buying a pair of jeans you might fit in to.  Yep done that too.  It was all so overwhelming that I would pack up a little box and head downstairs to work in my living room.  So for 6 months I have used my work space maybe twice, but when we decided to close Fawn & Flora last month a huge part of that decision came from me not wanting so many things.things.things.  This weekend I had a huge instagram sale for the remaining inventory I had, the rest that I didn't list is all getting donated and I think I might go back through my "keep" pile just to really think about what I need my choices for.  I've done this in other areas of my life, I mean okay Pinterest is a little adjustment- but even that stressed me out. I want less clutter, I want more intent, I want less crap and more quality goods.  I want a clear life and mind and spirit and heart and I think I'm on my way there.