That is perfect!

I'm not claiming to be Sunamita, but on another thread I noted a similar issue for me--that for me, it was a battle not always of physical clutter, but I had to MINDFULLY say no to my own whims, hobbies, ADD or whatever it is, regarding activies, and maybe even more the complexity of activities, or the expectation of what they consist of, and focus on a few things, because it was the multiplicity of roles and activities that brought with it clutter of things and of time-consumption.

I was finding I was taking on too many different personae, for want of a better word; at least, too many simultaneously. I had to think, I could do that some day maybe, but if I start to do that now, I will just get even more jumbled up and I will not enjoy the other things. But, these are always beckoning and I have to really fight to identify priorities and say no to MYSELF. It takes a while, and exercising the discipline, before you can see the payoff so that it is not experienced as denial of pleasures or of your own "well-rounded person" but is savoring fewer experiences and things more fully.

I have to apply this to every activity, from work (good enough and not perfection, primarily in paperwork-type stuff), cooking, wardrobe, gardening, and more. Each of these areas I tend to expand beyond what I can reasonably handle (meaning, in retrospect, I really did not want or need to do it that way, as opposed to something you're really glad you did a certain way) and to make it more complex.

I think one can learn this skill with determination, but I think some people are born with it and wonder what is all the fuss.

Simplify, indeed!

frankie...I can identify with what you are saying about taking on hobbies, etc. My problem is taking them on and then taking them to the extreme. I get involved not only with learning more about the thing I am interested in, in this case photography, but I search and search the web and find out about more and more stuff that I think I need. Some of the things, like 3 photography related gifts I got myself last year from Christmas I have either never or rarely used any of them. I didn't really have a need for them. One box is sitting here unopened from the merchant!

Now I sit in my office room and look at my guest room and it is just filled with stuff. It is not restful at all and I would like to get to the time when it will be and when I can feel like I am living simply and feeling at peace in my home.

I was not born with simplicity, but rather with gathering all I could...for what? Safety? For the future when I may have to do without? I don't know what for. Maybe I can learn to live simply too.

I guess it is a matter of where you put your effort. Do you want to put a great deal of effort into planning where and how you will live, setting up your home and your schedule to facilitate a relatively restful and pleasant everyday life? Or do you make decisions without simplicity in mind -- perhaps momentary convenience, instead -- and just resolve to deal with any ensuing complications on a case-by-case basis? I'd rather try to keep it simple.

As to the many interests pulling one in too many directions at once ... I have found it is best to pare down my interests. I am slowly giving away all my knitting and crochet stuff, because what I really love is quilting.

I heard this advice: Pick one hobby, give it your all, then after you have had your fill for a while, set it aside and move on to another hobby. That might work for some people, I suppose. I know a lady who does all those hand work hobbies. She knits, crochets, does home dec sewing, quilting, etc. And she collects stamps, so I give her all my canceled stamps.

Since we also have several long term life goals or roles at the same time, it is quite a juggling act, I admit, to try to fit "fun" in there, somewhere.

You are right...simplicity is the most rigorous thing of all.
This is true in the arts...successful modern design, for instance, is a matter of what has been taken away, but with strict adherence to the principles of proportion, function, excellence of materials, and perfection in execution. Otherwise, it just looks cheap, feels dead, and is uncomfortable.
We all have to puzzle out what satisfies our own needs.
William Morris said it:
"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I guess that means I'd better go wash my hair and do the laundry...otherwise, I don't meet my own rule!!

Simplicity is simply knowing when to say when. Where it is in decorating, hobbies or even commitments with friends. I find the older I get the more I need me time and sometimes forget to pencil it in.

t I had to MINDFULLY say no to my own whims, hobbies, ...I was finding I was taking on too many different personae, for want of a better word; at least, too many simultaneously. I had to think, I could do that some day maybe, but if I start to do that now, I will just get even more jumbled up and I will not enjoy the other things. But, these are always beckoning and I have to really fight to identify priorities and say no to MYSELF.

Frankie, as always, there's such much wisdom in your posts.

I went through this on a small scale. I got rid of the fabric I'd held on to, bcs I kept saying, "I sew; that's who Talley_Sue is; she is a sewer." I had to give myself permission to say "I used to be a sewer, and I may sew again someday, but I am not now a sewer."

I lso gave myself permission to dream about hobbies and stuff, without feeling that I was required to actually DO them. (sort of the opposite of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's motto, "turning dreamers into doers"--I'm a fan of turning a doer into a dreamer) So, I don't have to buy the stuff. I can plan, and research, and even measure and draw diagrams--and then I can stop. Pipe-dreaming is an acceptable pastime. But I had to consciously give myself permission to NOT follow through, and thereby permission to not actually START.

talley sue...your post just gave me the permission I needed to get rid of my fabrics. Like you, I was a sewer and I know that if I got back to it again, I would buy new fabric for a new project. First I will check with my grandchildren and see if they would like some and then I will get rid of the rest.
Anyone know a good place to give it to, where they might use it? Thank-you!

If you are giving the fabric away you may want to ask a school if they would like it. I know mine takes all that type stuff.

Great, I will do that...also I have a DIL who is a teacher, she may even want it!