Every season (even though we don’t really have seasons here in Los Angeles), we clean! I think mostly everyone has heard of spring cleaning, where the stereotypical American family empties out their garage, attic, basement and closets onto the driveway and gets rid of everything they don’t need via garage sale. The weather is nice, so it makes sense. I feel like we did something like that growing up. Now, we do this with the turn of every season, as we’ve gotten rid of more stuff/junk/crap over the years.
This spring cleaning was one of the most productive and fulfilling to date. We ended up donating/distributing everything, instead of selling it, simply because we lacked the time. As you can see from the pictures below, there is a lot of stuff. We don’t really have a ton, and I’m always the one pushing this project, but I had some help this year. Alana found out about Marie Kondo, and it really impacted her decisions as we went through everything. I get rid of anything that isn’t used often, unless it is EXTREMELY sentimental or very valuable. Marie Kondo’s approach is based on whether you feel joy from an object, which didn’t really work for me, but it did for Alana.
We usually do this right around the solstice or equinox. We encourage you to do the same. Force yourself to make use of what you have or get rid of it. Sell it, donate it, gift it… anything, really. It feels nice having less stuff around. It can even be a good workout; you can burn a few extra calories. It is always helpful to take inventory of what you have, just in case your earthquake kit leaked and is all covered in black mold (true story)! You never know what secrets you’ll find hiding behind a dresser.
Let us know your habits about cleaning and organizing in the comment section below. Making more out of less is one way to develop good habits that will keep you hungry and fit!
