If you’re following me on instagram, you probably see that I do a cleaning and sorting out haul from time to time. It is so freeing to see all those broken and not needed things leave. These are the moments when it just gets me and I won’t rest until I cleared some things out, got rid of the clutter and sorted a few corners of our apartment.

One of the things I noticed consciously in the last year is that I definitely feel better when I do this. It puts my mind at ease when there is less clutter surrounding me. This includes not only visual clutter. I do enjoy an empty table, a clean wall, light colors with a lot of space, you get the picture. 😉 But it just bothers me, when I know there is a whole lot of mess in those drawers or behind those closet doors. It is only a temporary fix to hide the mess, and my brain knows and shows it. I will feel restless, the to-do-list in my mind becomes endless and overwhelming. I feel out of control.  Maybe this is also some aspect, which plays into this. I feel out of control. If all things around me are sorted, it feels like I have control over what I can possibly control in my life.

By reducing the stuff I own, I’m also reducing the stuff I need to worry about and take care of. This is a very welcoming aspect of minimalism. There is less to do, my internal to-do-list concentrates on the important things. For example planning a vacation and other quality time with my partner, family and friends. It is freeing – there is so much more time available, when cleaning up takes less time and effort. I’ve definitely noticed that my mind has calmed down in the last year, since starting to apply the minimalist principles in my life. So I can definitely say for that the external clutter is my internal clutter. And for the simple reason of sanity I will continue to reduce any clutter I encounter.