On being mindful

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, especially if you patiently waited for it to happen.  For me, the chance to get rid of the bachelor pad create a home that reflects both of us has queued for quite some time.  In preparation, we talked about our individual and collective preferences and from that information, I constructed a style that made the best of both worlds.  Understanding our budget, I scoured the internet, home furnishing stores, thrift stores, and discount stores looking for pieces of furniture that would work for us.

Once we knew what we wanted, we purchased.  Those moments were exhilarating and the results were exactly what we wanted.  At least initially.

However, what was once enough, became not enough.  In my mind, our place was still lacking.  It wasn’t full enough.  We needed more.  Another picture there.  More pillows here.  A different table.  Another table by the wall.  Suddenly, I saw more things to add without really having a need or use for them outside of “filling the space out.”

Before the initial changes, I was content with what we had.  I was content with less.  In fact, for every piece of furniture that we purchased, it served as a replacement, not an addition.  It was a part of our plan to keep the amount of things we owned to a minimum to make our future move a little more bearable.  But since we got something different, I thought we needed more to have ‘proper’ décor.

But alas, I had fallen victim to the monster of discontent (and a little thing called Pinterest).  I forgot what our goal was:  to be mindful of the things we brought into our home, making sure they added value to our lives.  Ideally, those things must meet two out of three criteria:  useful, meaningful, and beautiful, before they are brought into the home. 

But, Shara, you say, it’s a part of decorating!  Maybe for some, it is.  However, instead of curating our décor, I was simply adding to it, because I felt it looked better or because that’s what you’re supposed to do.  My dear friends, emotions will take you places you never intended to go (in this case, way overbudget for the diy-challenged).

So I took a step back and really thought about all these things that we "needed."  Mindful of our goals and intentions, I stopped searching for things to add, but looked at how complete it already was.  We lacked nothing of necessity, missing only items from fleeting whims or unfortunate trends.  That’s the stuff junk rooms are made of, right?

Will we have more in the future?  Probably.  But our desire is that each of those things will add true value, not the appearance of it, to our lives.  Until then, I remain mindful of what have now, happily enjoying our new digs.