When I started this journey I had only one thing on my mind – to get rid of all the stuff that was irritating the hell out of me.  Perhaps I thought that once I had done that my life would be sorted.  Much like the “if I lose 20lb/get a new job/earn another £10,000/get married/have a baby [delete as appropriate] everything will be perfect”.  But life isn’t like that, you can’t measure contentment, despite the Government’s determination to measure of happiness it cannot be done, it is not a determinable constant measurable on an analogue scale.  On the other hand if you are prepared to measure logarithmically perhaps it can be done; the happier you feel you are the happier you become.

I have achieved a huge amount in only a month or so.  We have a huge house and it has happily held a lot of stuff for a very long time.  I have cleared books, clothes, kitchen equipment, linen, jewellery, paperwork,  It is true that stuff will expand to fill the space available. We have a lot of space and I am a very organised person.  I knew where everything was, everything was in its place and apart from a few hot spots the house didn’t look cluttered (except perhaps to a serious minimalist).  But I knew it was and boy have I been proven right.

Despite everything I have managed to do thus far there is still a long way to go.  Am I downhearted?  Absolutely not.  I am thrilled.  The more I achieve the more I want to achieve.  As I move around the house putting away washing, cleaning the sink or picking up the detritus generated by three teenage girls I see more opportunities to declutter.  I worked through my jewellery yesterday afternoon in just under an hour, while I was at it I reorganised where it went and gave my dressing table a once over.  Result – clear space, jewellery I will wear and three daughters delighted with the rejects.

The less I have the more I want – more of less.