2020: The Year of the Book-Buying Ban

At the beginning of this year, I set two very specific goals for myself. And actually met them. Both setting and meeting goals are very unlike me, so please don’t think I’m boasting. 1. Read at least 20 books before January 1st, 2021.2. Do not buy any books for myself before January 1st, 2021. Thanks […]

Book Review: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression – all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a […]

Book Review: Destination Simple

So much of simple living is in the art of noticing. . . if I had to sum this book up in one idea it would be this: become a noticer. Brooke McAlary is a blogger and podcaster at Slow Your Home. She wrote this tiny book as a great place to start for simplifying […]

ornaments: a minimalist story

I don’t know about your family, but it seems that as far back as I can remember, my family has been exceedingly sentimental about Christmas ornaments. Every year when we pulled the Christmas decorations out at the Wilson house – after bringing home a freshly cut tree from Cherry Grove Tree Farm – the adorning […]

growth

I’ve been learning two things that may sound like opposite concepts but can both be applied simultaneously. It’s OK to do things that feel a little crazy, that seem too hard, too big, too complicated. & Living an ordinary, unbusy, unhurried life is OK too. It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life. […]

5 (Partly Silly) Things We Do to Save Money

Everyone wants more money. But I believe the money we need is already ours; we just don’t make the best use of it.Yes, I said “we.” We started our minimalism journey over six months ago, but old habits die hard. My desires still tend to lean toward shopping. Minimalism is a mindset and a process. […]

The Time-Eater

a step toward mindfulness: part three There are countless things endlessly vying for our attention. I’ve blogged about a big one here but that is just one distraction. Today I want to share with you how going without something we used almost every day impacted our lives, and how it continues to. We went without Netflix for […]

The “Unmentionables”

a step toward mindfulness: part two Just being honest here: I struggled to start writing this because I couldn’t decide the format. The original plan was to have several “steps toward mindfulness” in one blog post; but that ended up being way too long for anyone to sit down and read in one sitting. Then […]

How a Dining Room Table Changed Our Life

a step toward mindfulness: part one mind·ful·ness noun the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. “their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition” a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. (Google […]

minimalism and the Christian

Minimalism is such a buzzword now. I’m pretty sure if you asked any millennial right now, they would probably tell you they are trying to lead a minimalist lifestyle or be a minimalist. I’ve been saying it for a while, but it hasn’t really been a reality. Let’s be honest. We all have more than […]