3115: What a Clogged Sink Taught Me About Minimalism by Rose Lounsbury on Decluttering & Simple Living

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[00:02:02] Now let's get right to our minimalist Monday post and start optimizing your life.

[00:02:11] What a clogged sink taught me about minimalism by Rose Loundsbury of RoseLoundsbury.com.

[00:02:17] Last summer we had our downstairs bathroom redone which was wonderful except for the fact that it

[00:02:24] meant everyone had to use the upstairs bathroom for a time. The upstairs bathroom is my space.

[00:02:30] It is tiny built into the eaves of the house right off our master bedroom. The shower so small

[00:02:35] that my husband refuses to use it and jokes that the easiest way to get clean in there is to

[00:02:40] attach scrub brushes to the wall and turn in a circle. I've never minded the smallness of this

[00:02:46] bathroom especially because it means that I get to have it all to myself until last summer.

[00:02:52] Once all five of us were forced into the bathroom, I noticed things I hadn't before like the sink.

[00:02:59] What's wrong with this sink, Josh asked? It takes forever to drain. Yeah, it's kind of slow,

[00:03:04] I admit it. It always known the sink was slow but I hadn't realized how bad it had become

[00:03:10] until I shared this space with my family. Literally, you cannot run the water for more than two

[00:03:16] seconds without it backing up. Since I've gotten so used to this, I've learned to wash my hands and

[00:03:21] brush my teeth with microscopic amounts of water. While this was certainly good for the environment

[00:03:26] and our water bill, it proved very frustrating to the rest of my family. By day three of the upstairs

[00:03:32] bathroom project, Josh hadn't had enough. That's it. I'm getting the pipe snake, he declared.

[00:03:39] Now, my husband does not use tools very often and by not very often I mean if I came home to find

[00:03:45] him holding a hammer, I'd suspect a terrorist was hiding somewhere in our house and I told Josh he'd

[00:03:50] blow the place unless Josh got to fix it. The pipe snake declaration was serious.

[00:03:56] I'll spare you the sorted details but what Josh pulled from the drain resembled the decayed

[00:04:01] remains of an extended family of dark haired rats. We both gagged in equal parts discussed and

[00:04:08] as he pulled clump after hairy clump from the pipes. I was proud of my husband that day,

[00:04:12] not just for his burgeoning handyman skills but for his ability to recognize a problem and take

[00:04:18] the proper steps no matter how annoying to resolve it. Over the next few days I brushed my teeth

[00:04:24] and watched austruck as my spittles world swiftly down the drain. I washed my hands without

[00:04:30] creating soap scum build up. I even rinsed out sponges to glory because here's the thing.

[00:04:36] I'd gotten so used to my ineffective system that I no longer noticed it. It wasn't until the problem

[00:04:42] was fixed that I realized how inconvenient it had been. I think this relates to clutter.

[00:04:48] My clients often say some version of, I feel so much better after our sessions. I think this is

[00:04:54] because we are often unaware of how burdensome our clutter is while we are living in it. Strange

[00:04:59] as it sounds is easy to get used to piling through a basket of old receipts and

[00:05:04] maintenance to find your keys or cell phone. It can become normal to move old newspapers and

[00:05:11] have completed craft projects from the table in order to eat dinner. We can get very acclimated

[00:05:16] to stepping over piles of shoes and toys to hang up codes. But it's never actually easy

[00:05:23] and it absorbs our time, energy, and creativity to live this way. When I started minimizing the

[00:05:30] clutter in my home, the immediate benefit was not the way my home looked but the way I felt in my

[00:05:36] home. I could breathe, I could think, I could sit down on my couch and relax. I'd forgotten about

[00:05:43] this until I found myself staring and wonder at water draining miraculously down my bathroom sink.

[00:05:49] When Josh helped me eliminate the clutter, every hairy, soapy, gooey clump of it from our sink.

[00:05:55] My life got easier. My mornings function better, I was able to get ready easier,

[00:06:01] cleaning the sink was less of a chore. It was a simple fix but made a big difference

[00:06:06] to the quality of my days. Eliminating our clutter can have the same effect. Imagine how your life

[00:06:13] would feel if you could open a closet and see only the clothes you love to wear. Consider how much

[00:06:19] easier it would be to clean your house if you didn't spend hours putting everything away first.

[00:06:24] Visualize cooking in a kitchen where you have just what you need exactly within your reach.

[00:06:30] This is how it is to live a simple, decluttered life because no matter whether you're dealing with

[00:06:35] the slow sink or a stuffed closet, eliminating excess is the easiest way to start living in easier,

[00:06:42] less stressful life.

[00:06:48] You just listen to the post titled, What a clogged sink taught me about minimalism

[00:06:52] by Rose Lounge Berry of RoseLoungeBerry.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:09] My brain is feeling extra cluttery or full. Maybe because there's a lot going on or haven't been

[00:08:14] organized by putting things in a calendar, or when my mind is going in circles, decluttering my

[00:08:20] mind can't even go a really long way to make things flow better. I've mentioned it on the show

[00:08:25] before one of my favorite ways to declutter the mind is to simply do a brain dump where you don't

[00:08:31] stop writing until you fill a page with words, anything and everything that pops into your head.

[00:08:37] And once that's done, it feels like my just decluttered a house. It's a great feeling.

[00:08:43] So I think this applies to many different areas, not even just physical clutter.

[00:08:47] It can probably even be applicable to clutter in your cell phone with apps and pictures.

[00:08:52] Things can flow so much better after a little bit of simplification.

[00:08:56] So what I'd encourage is yes definitely think about that physical clutter or even the clogged

[00:09:03] sink. But if you're not in the mood or you've been listening to a bunch of minimalist

[00:09:06] Monday posts here and are already doing well with physical clutter, maybe consider digital clutter

[00:09:12] like on your phone or especially computer and then mind clutter. There's always room for us

[00:09:18] to improve our lives and doing a quick check can go a long way. So think about that today.

[00:09:24] A nice way to start the week and thank you for being here listening to me and for subscribing

[00:09:28] to the show and I'll be back tomorrow reading to you where your optimal life awaits.