I was recently reading blogs by The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus. And from what I could see they have discovered that having it all, is not what it is cracked up to be.
In a nutshell, at the ripe old age of (almost) 30 they had achieved their financial and career goals and purchased what they believed they always wanted, only to find out that life was not satisfying.
They were not happy.
From the about page on TheMinimalist.Com: About Joshua & Ryan “…stress and anxiety and fear and loneliness and guilt and overwhelm and depression.”
The above list is what Joshua and Ryan described as arriving with all the stuff, even though all the stuff was what they believed they wanted and had worked for.
They found downsizing, minimizing, and having less was what the doctor ordered. Having more was not better.
This got me thinking… and I began searching. There are TONS of blogs about minimizing, living simply, and downsizing, and their reasons were not to get organized, but to get happy.
Could it be that we are not alone? Is it possible that being Organizationally Challenged is only part of our dilemma?
Never in our history have people been able to have and do what we are able to have and do today.
In the early 70’s we still brought a toaster to be fixed if it broke. No one got a new one! Things were repaired. Do you remember Emmett, owner of the fix it shop from The Andy Griffith Show?
This was not that long ago. An incredible change has taken place in our world, and we are reaping the rewards, lots of dissatisfaction.
We have become a nation of consumers (look up the word consume it is vile)
It makes sense that those of us who live in chaos, and have our left brains on siesta, can conclude that our main problem is being Organizationally Challenged aka disorganized.
But what if it is simpler than that? What if it is a universal problem and our issues are compounded by too much stuff.
I will tell you this much, one thing rings true before we can move forward to living an ordered life is, we have to dejunk. We have to get rid of the excess.
Here is an exerpt from a blog from TheMinimalist.com Titled: Five Steps Toward a More Meaningful Holiday Season (it is the last chapter in this essay)
“Ryan pauses for a moment to let it all sink in. Two-thirds of the crowd is nodding with vigor, the other third looks skeptical. Ryan blinks hard from the stage lights and continues, “If this all sounds a little preachy, I’m sorry. I am not here to preach to you. I’m not saying that you have to do-or that youshould do-anything. The truth is that I know many of you are just like me. You’re unhappy with the status quo, unhappy with what you’re supposed to do with your life, just unhappy with the way things are. And so was I. But then I chose to circumvent the status quo. And so can you.”
They are talking about not buying anymore, giving of our time and heart and not in packages and purchases. Seeking after things was what Joshua and Ryan were talking about that made them “unhappy with the status quo…unhappy with the way things are”
Please, I implore you to ponder that it is in the excess where our problems lie, and although there are many things that need to be learned and addressed for us OCs, if this fundamental part is ignored, it will all be in vain; we can clearly see this by the examples of the OGP of the world (Organizationally Gifted People).
I will be there for you every step of the way. We have a facebook page where I am completely accessible. I answer every email and love to encourage and give helpful advice, The New Year is over and time waits for no-one.
Do it for you. Learning and employing my course doesn’t just get you organized, it gets you happy.
Here is the link: https://blog.thetidytutor.com/ttu
Enroll, and lets begin a journey that you will never regret or forget.
Much Love!
Kathy
The Tidy Tutor