{"id":5497,"date":"2015-04-23T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T11:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/?p=5497"},"modified":"2015-04-20T04:18:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T09:18:40","slug":"the-art-of-letting-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/the-art-of-letting-go\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Letting Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Our industry gathers each year for our NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) conference.\u00a0 It’s our annual family reunion where we learn and hug!\u00a0 This year we were privileged to hear The Minimalists<\/a>.\u00a0 Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus write a blog about living a meaningful life with less stuff (for 4 million readers.)\u00a0 They shared their powerful stories of transition to simplicity.\u00a0 They shared some powerful stuff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Art of Letting Go<\/h3>\n

Josh and Ryan are best friends from way back. Both chose a new path to having less and experiencing more because of transitions in their lives.\u00a0 Originally living more traditional lives, they chose to let go of what is meaningless to them. \u00a0 It required them facing situations that were emotion charged losses.\u00a0 It made me think about how a sad and difficult situations can create the opportunity for change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Art of Letting go comes from the perspective of our new assessment of what our stuff means to us.\u00a0 Our stuff does not define us.\u00a0 Our memories are within us, not in our stuff. We can share our stuff with others who will find it useful.\u00a0 We can remember without the stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 It all came down to this question about our stuff.\u00a0 The question they asked of us…how might your life be better if you owned fewer material possessions?\u00a0 Are you ready to embrace a life that means more without your stuff holding you back? <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Getting started<\/h3>\n

Are you ready to simplify your life?\u00a0 The Minimalists offer their solution to get started called #MinsGame<\/a>. You eliminate one thing\u00a0on the first day of the month. On the second, eliminate two things. Three items on the third.\u00a0 It’s contagious! And who doesn’t like to play when you are an automatic winner?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love the baby steps here.\u00a0 Not only do you feel the emotional lift of less in your space, #MinsGame offers a daily dose of paring down in a small way.\u00a0 It can be anything in your space that you choose to eliminate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love that decluttering<\/a> takes on a powerful reason.\u00a0 It shifts your focus from holding on tight to what you have just in case to keeping only what is most meaningful and useful.\u00a0 Your decluttering and letting go will give you more opportunity to live the life you have imagined.\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(I first heard of this game last year.\u00a0 Join the game and play with colleague Andrea Sharb.)<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A final thought<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Minimalists resonated with me because of this quote they shared. Love People. Use Things. The opposite never works.<\/em>\u00a0 It’s in the art of letting go that we find what is being camouflaged by stuff and see what’s important to us.\u00a0 That’s what’s empowering about organizing and simplicity.\u00a0 Isn’t that what we are truly want?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More thoughts on simplicity each month! Join<\/a> my newsletter<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our industry gathers each year for our NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) conference.\u00a0 It’s our annual family reunion where we learn and hug!\u00a0 This year we were privileged to hear The Minimalists.\u00a0 Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus write a blog about living a meaningful life with less stuff (for 4 million readers.)\u00a0 They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[1455,1454,19],"class_list":["post-5497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizing-skills","tag-minsgame","tag-art-of-letting-go","tag-decluttering"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Art of Letting Go - Ellen's Blog, Professional Organizing for Kingwood & Houston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Minimalists inspired me to embrace The Art of Letting Go. 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