2023: The Year of Simplicity
How I'm focusing on "simplicity" as my word of the year
Does anyone else like to choose a word of the year? I’ve been doing this for several years now. It’s nothing that I spend a lot of time thinking about. It’s more about being open to what God is trying to tell me. At the end of last year, the word “simplicity” came to my mind and I knew that was my word of the year for 2023.
It might seem like a dichotomy, because life for me looks anything but simple right now. Mostly because I’m a mom to 3 boys 3 years and under, AND my husband is deployed to a combat zone. Sounds pretty complicated and chaotic!
But because of those circumstances, I believe it’s even more important to focus on the “simple.” When I use that word, I’m not just meaning “uncomplicated” but also the “essentials.” What is most important and essential in our life right now? What things, both physically and mentally, can I let go? What will make our lives more streamlined so that we can not only survive this year, but thrive?
I’ve also developed a deeper love for one of my favorite all-time saints, St. Therese of Lisieux, after listening to her autobiography, Story of a Soul. (She is also known as St. Therese the Little Flower or St. Therese of the Child Jesus.) She is known for her “little way” to holiness and Heaven. On the surface it might seem childish or like she was a simpleton, or that she was even looking for a lazy shortcut to Heaven. But it’s not like that at all. She displayed true humility, and knew her limits and how utterly she had to rely on Jesus. My favorite prayer of hers is taped to my bathroom mirror:
Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be and becoming that person.
What exactly is the Lord calling me to be this year? With a household to run without my husband and three little boys needing constant care, I am pretty sure He is not calling me to unnecessarily complicate my life any more than it is. In fact, making things unnecessarily complicated could actually draw me away from Him. It would be too easy to get mired in the stressful details of life, which then leads to attempting to rely on my own strength to get through it. Which, by the way, ALWAYS fails. Been there, done that.
With the focus on simplicity, it will allow me to hone in on what’s really important in my life. Everything else is ancillary. Some weeks might be really “productive,” but many weeks will be highly simplified: eat, sleep, pray, nurse the baby, feed the toddlers, get outside, give baths, keep the house tidy, go to Mass on Sunday, FaceTime with Mark when we can, and have a little bit of daily alone time. Even though it’s only February, I can already feel myself getting harried. But then I thought the other day: what’s the rush? If I push myself to the limit every single day, I will soon burn out.
Another thing I’m doing to embrace simplicity is decluttering our house - especially our basement storage area. Decluttering our possessions is something I’ve needed to do for years, but it always seemed like a daunting task. I finally started on the project last March, but soon became pregnant with our third child and then morning sickness struck. (And then subsequent pregnancy tiredness.) This year, I have picked it back up now that I’m a couple months postpartum and have more energy.
Since last March, we have gotten rid of SO MANY bags of trash and boxes of donations. (I wish I’d been keeping track.) I have hardly sold anything, due to being strapped for time and space. For me, it’s better to just move inventory out of the house than try to make money in the process. The latter will just slow things down. Plus, the longer an item hangs around, the more there’s the temptation to find a reason to keep it. So just let it go quickly!
It’s amazing to me that so many of our possessions are gone - yet I miss none of them! Every time I throw away trash bags bursting at the seams or donate overflowing boxes, it’s like a weight off my shoulders. At the time of this publishing, I have decluttered most of the storage area except for Mark’s items (which he can get to after returning from deployment). The next step is getting heavy duty, matching totes that can withstand a few more military moves, packing up the items, and carefully labeling each box so we can more easily find things when we need them.
Simplifying our house and possessions will ultimately help us more easily focus on what matters: faith, family, education, and making memories together. It’s people and relationships that matter, not “stuff.” Of course, there will always be the things that are 1) needed, and 2) special, like blessed religious items, mementos from living and traveling in Europe, and antique/heirloom furniture. But downsizing our possessions will help us appreciate those important things even more!
I’m sure this year I will have my moments of feeling utterly overwhelmed with our circumstances of deployment while solo parenting 3 young children. It’s pretty much inevitable. So having a simplified, streamlined life will help those days of overwhelm feel not as daunting because physically and mentally, I won’t be as cluttered.
If you haven’t tried decluttering and downsizing your possessions, I highly recommend it! It feels very freeing!
Simply,
Malori