♥
Poor Ryan. When he met me I came with a whole bunch of stuff that I had been collecting my entire life and was desperate not to part with. Nothing really that important, just stuff — even things that I had gotten as gifts years before I met him (sometimes they remained un-opened and stuffed in the back of a closet). I just couldn’t bring myself to part with this stuff because someone was kind enough to think of me when they saw it all.
Throughout my entire life, my bedroom was a nightmare and my Mom eventually gave up making me try to clean it + keep it clean. She realized that it’s just who I am — a messy, messy girl. I was always too excited about doing the next creative thing to go back + clean up from the last. Or, maybe I just found it easier to locate things when they were spread out on the floor in front of me rather than tucked away neatly in drawers.
Either way, I have to say I felt very sorry for Ryan when we moved in together and I knew I was bringing my mess into his rather minimalistic lifestyle.
But, it seems that over the years that we’ve lived together his way of life has surprisingly impacted mine. If you had told me three years ago that by the time I was 25 I would be in the habit of vacuuming the entire apartment every week, scooping the kitty litter every night, and putting the clothes away as soon as they came out of the laundry (please don’t tell my Mom these details, she might have a heart attack), I would have told you that you had clearly mistaken me for someone else.
I really can’t say I’m upset about the change, though. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who had things pulled together. The key, I have found, is time management + mindfulness.
Here’s a list that Ryan showed me that seems to really highlight a lot of the things that I’ve learned in the past couple of years about time, space, + personal management. It’s simple, and it feels incredibly refreshing to live in this way.
To live deliberately, what else could anyone ask for?
xx. Julia
