Consuming versus Community

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

We were created to live in community. In connection with others. It’s our number one human need.

But today so many of us live such independent, separate, isolated lives.

What are we filling the community void with? We’re filling it with stuff. Consuming to fill the space left by a lack of community.

Consuming things.
Consuming social media.
Consuming online content.
Consuming entertainment.

 

We need to step back from this consumption. Notice the void. Feel it. Realise it’s a sign that’s something’s wrong with society.

Realise that if we all keep consuming to fill the void, we won’t reach out to others.

I don’t have an answer to this problem. Only an observation of how the problem is currently playing out.

But maybe, as we let ourselves feel the void, we’ll take the first step towards turning this ship of mindless consumption around.

And let it propel us forward to seek more meaningful community and connection.

Weathering the storm

~ Rachel King ~ 4 Comments

It’s been a little quiet on the blog lately.

My life has been far more challenging than I ever thought possible. I’d like to write more about it, share our journey, such that it might resonate with others. But it involves a child, and I’m very conscious of the fact that words are printed indelibly on the internet.

So I won’t say much right now. I hope to say more one day, maybe, once we’re through this storm.

It’s been a long, long storm. And the winds are still raging. It is still unbearably difficult.

So we wait.
Hope.
That one day, this storm will pass.

Finding joy in simple things

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

I’ve just been to Europe for 3 weeks, for some fun travel adventures with my Dad and daughter. I know, lucky me. It was fabulous.

Any time I travel, I’m reminded of how little we actually need. And I’m compelled to simplify my possessions even further.

And I’m also reminded that it’s often the simplest things that bring the most joy. A friend asked me what a highlight of the trip was. And rather than any of the expensive paid activities, one of my favourite things? Going for a morning run in Paris.

Screen Shot 2016-05-18 at 08.48.28

Obviously, I can’t go running past the Louvre every morning (tres jealous of the Parisians who can!) but I can recognise that it’s often the simpler things that bring joy, and attempt to integrate those things into my life, in big ways and small.

How about you, what are the parts of your day that bring joy?

How perfectionism can be the enemy of decluttering

decluttering versus perfectionism
~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

There’s a risk with decluttering, especially when you’re a perfectionist. And that’s aiming too high, or thinking you can ever get to the end. To achieve a state of decluttered perfection.

But you can’t. Life, by nature, is messy, organic, chaotic.

Trying to strive for absolute perfection will leave you in a state of dissatisfied anxiety.

I’m a reforming perfectionist, and sometimes it gets the better of me, and I go into a frenzy of organisation. Of seeking perfection. Of striving for the impossible.

So I’m working to see the beauty in the chaos. To see paint smeared across the dining table as a sign of my kids’ creativity; bikes left lying outside a reminder of green spaces we can bike to and enjoy; dishes on the bench highlighting that we have enough food to eat; piles of craft projects to be attended to a reminder of the joy of creativity; unmade beds, a reminder that we have woken up, we are alive, and have another day before us.

decluttering versus perfectionism

Lessons from life: Vincent Van Gogh and discovering beauty in the ordinary

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

There are lessons to be learnt in the ordinariness of our daily lives, if we are attentive enough to notice them.

Vincent Van Gogh discovered this in a pair of shoes. While living in Paris, he went through a phase of painting old shoes. He saw the beauty, the profound, in one of life’s most ordinary things.

Van Gogh, Pair of Shoes, 1886
Van Gogh, Pair of Shoes, 1886
In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent wrote,

“It is good to love as many things as one can… Poetry surrounds us everywhere.”

Van Gogh let his life tell a story that he could observe, learn from, and capture on canvas.

Can we turn down the noise and distraction of our own lives long enough to let the simplicity, the ordinariness of our own lives speak?

There’s so much to be learnt, discovered, and uncovered in the ordinariness of life.

If we would only stop long enough to listen.

Unplug long enough to listen.
Stop texting, scrolling, emailing, instagramming, long enough to listen.
Even just for a moment.

LOOK UP!!! Don’t be a Slave to your Smartphone. BE HERE NOW.

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

I’m sitting in a cafe, to write. But I’m surrounded by people glued to their phones. This frustrates me so much I want to scream. So can you humour me while I get up from my seat and shout for a minute?

PUT YOUR PHONES AWAY!!!

Can you LOOK AT YOUR DAUGHTER? She wants you to see her.

Can you look at your friend?

Can you taste your food?

Can you see your lover across the table from you?

Can you feel the sunshine on your face?

Can you smell your coffee?

ARE YOU THERE???

People. We are in a scary place.

Look up. Listen. Put away your phones.

Get unplugged. Be awake to your life. Be awake to your reality. Live. Truly live. 

Feel the feelings. The good ones. The bad ones. The sad ones. The hard ones. We are meant to feel all of them. Then, and only then, will our lives grow richer. For can we truly know courage if we haven’t felt fear? Can we truly know inspiration if we haven’t felt boredom? Can we truly know joy if we haven’t felt pain?

Live and feel fully. Be present. Let life be your teacher.

You can’t change the world with a house full of junk: The greater purpose in decluttering

~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

Decluttering. Love it or hate it, it’s an essential habit in the 21st century consumer society we live in. But is it worth all the effort if your entire aim is just to have a house that looks magazine worthy?

Aiming for a Pinterest perfect home will just leave us constantly dissatisfied with the mess, or constantly tidying to maintain it. Houses are for living in, not magazine displays.

Decluttering as an end in itself has limited purpose. But as a means to an end, it’s invaluable.

When your physical possessions are out of control, it’s hard to have a clear head or be genuinely productive in what you do. When your schedule is bursting at the seams, you can’t hear yourself think.

The more ruthless I’ve been in decluttering my home and my life, the more at peace I’ve felt in my home and my head. The more relaxed I feel, the more energy and headspace I have to explore other pursuits. Starting a blog a couple of years ago, for example, was borne out of my then newly decluttered home. Creating physical and mental space in our lives tends to have a far wider reaching impact than we anticipate.

Living with less stuff and less commitments allows more time, space and energy to focus on what’s truly important in life; pursuing your purpose (whether that be finding the cure for cancer or creating a great family culture), investing in friendships and relationships with others, and time to just be.

So if you’re keen to change the world, or even just have space to hear yourself think, I recommend starting with your kitchen cupboards. Who knows where you’ll end up…

 

This post is modified from a post originally published on ihearthome.