00:06
Hi, this is Katie, and thank you for joining me on the Creating Your Sanctuary podcast, and this is a podcast about creating those little moments in space that support you.

00:20
And I wanted to talk today about your space and how downsizing can help both moving and staying put.

00:29
So when we moved to the Netherlands, we had tons of stuff to get rid of. And it took a long time, there was a lot to it.

00:38
But I kind of wished that I had done the same thing while we were still there, like years earlier.

00:47
And I think, one, could do a similar procedure, similar strategy, when clearing out their own space if they are staying put.

01:03
So knowing that I think a lot of us have this idea of when we're going to clean out the whole garage or clean out our the shed or like a storage room or craft room or something, that we can do it in a weekend because I think a lot of TV and YouTube and videos online make it, you know, look really easy and that you can do it quickly.

01:29
But in all honesty, you know, after now going through our shed and our garage.

01:38
It was a one car garage, but it was a packed full garage, like boxes on either side of the car when you pulled it in.

01:45
And as soon as we started working on it, we couldn't pull the car in anymore, there was just so much.

01:51
We had brought 20 years of stuff to fix houses.

01:59
We weren't even in anymore or to fix things we didn't have anymore or had CD collections or we had, um, some guitars that weren't even ours.

02:12
So we did return those to the original owner.

02:14
Um, they had moved from Seattle, back to the east coast and back.

02:20
And so it was nice to be able to return those to them.

02:24
Um, It's all that kind of stuff that, uh, baby stuff, we had a bunch of baby stuff that we had to go through and go, which are the things that we want to keep around to have is memorabilia that we just couldn't part with.

02:41
And we had to let a lot go and knowing that other people could use these items, um, really did help.

02:51
But also, we started, let's see, we had a end of June, um, move out date, and we were working on this in March in April, and we did have some travel in there. I bounced back and forth from Seattle to the Netherlands again.

03:13
And so, um, it probably took like 3 months, I would say.

03:19
to go through everything and take breaks and take care of us.

03:23
So, I think if you wanted to try this of just being so ruthless in your decisions and ruthless can mean Different things, right?

03:37
It can, it sounds painful, but what you're really doing is making the decision once that this is something that no longer deserves space in your life because you are trying to create a sanctuary around you.

03:53
You're trying to create this space that just feels like you and honors you and you honor it.

04:02
And so when we have a bunch of extra things that are just in case things or, oh, I might do that someday.

04:09
I'm not talking about things that really you do want to get to and really do create energy in life and you feel involved in or it's, you know, beautiful art that you're making.

04:25
I'm not talking about any of that because those are the things that create your sanctuary, right?

04:30
Like, those are the things you want to keep around you that is full of love and trust and that you know you're going to use them.

04:42
What I'm talking about are the things that maybe aren't trustworthy.

04:48
And so what does that mean, right?

04:50
It's, um, keeping those things around for the just in case, but also do you, and you have to think hard and deep into your own heart, do you trust that you will use these items?

05:06
And usually the very 1st thing that comes to mind is kind of the answer.

05:13
Like, you can go, oh, no, I wouldn't.

05:16
Oh, maybe I would.

05:17
Maybe I would. Like, listen to the very 1st thing that pops into your head.

05:23
And that is truth coming forward of like, I don't think I'll actually get around to it.

05:31
Now, I do want to go over a whole process that are like a strategy that's questions you can ask yourself, of things that are staying and things that you could be buying to bring into your home and I will cover that next time.

05:50
But this time I'm just going to kind of wrap up the concept of treating your whole, if you want to do a big declutter, or if you want to just do a little bit at a time.

06:01
Either way, it's still going to take probably a month or two, depending on how much stuff you have.

06:09
Like, I'm talking like a family.

06:10
We were a family of three, that had 3 bedroom house.

06:14
On the smaller side, but still, it was a lot of stuff that we had a shed and a garage and art stuff around too, right?

06:24
Art, hobby stuff, sports.

06:26
And it just takes a lot of time to make those really good decisions for yourself.

06:31
One of the really effective strategies that also works for me is to remove everything from that storage area, remove everything from that one shelf, remove everything from that file cabinet, remove everything from that box.

06:47
And when you do that, and you start putting things back in that you love and trust.

06:53
Then you know those are the things that are staying.

06:57
Those are the things that are resonating with you the most and they're going to make your heart sing when you see them make your brain kind of light up and make your soul like really connect to them.

07:13
These are things that are just you, but kind of externally.

07:18
And the things that you know you are capable of getting to.

07:22
Um, and, you know, if you make quilts or something and you have like a ton of fabric, I'm sure you could probably get rid of a 3rd to a half and still have the most enjoyable time.

07:34
And when you're looking at, you know, making a quilt, you only have those lovely, lovely ones that you selected instead of, you know, trying to dig through and try to guess between like, oh, should I use this one or that one?

07:54
I have so many options, but some of these aren't so good.

07:56
Like, I'm talking like maybe a couple boxes full, right?

08:00
Not, if you're just starting out in quilting and you have, you know, 30 different fabrics, like that's, that's ideal, right?

08:09
That, I mean, I'm not a quilter.

08:11
I'll say that.

08:12
But I'm just kind of thinking of like, if you're making a quilt or 2 and you're using up what you have, and, you know, you have the supplies you need, and it's kind of like that starting out point where you have enough to keep going and getting, and get a project done, that's kind of how you want to treat other, you know, specialty things that you like to do, whether it's painting or or something else.

08:37
What is like that core set?

08:39
Now you can, um, upgrade and improve and bring in new things, but let other things go, right?

08:47
Like have a cycle of like, you know what?

08:49
I made this beautiful quilt out of these selected items.

08:54
I don't think I'll use these again, or at least maybe I'll keep these 2 for a future project and I'll let the rest go.

09:00
And that's a whole new mentality too.

09:04
I'll get into um in the next podcast as well.

09:08
But if you're kind of understanding like where this is kind of going, um, yeah, stay tuned for my next episode because I do want to get into it more, but just the original concept of, if, you know, you aren't moving.

09:23
Treat it as if you are.

09:26
Treat it as if you're moving overseas and being that ruthless means you have very little space.

09:33
You have very little that you can bring with you, and just those treasured, beautiful objects and crafts that you love to do, are the things that are staying.

09:44
And when you are in your sanctuary that maybe you've lived in for a few years or a decade, and you're creating these spaces, that have only those really salient, lovely, you know, heart singing, you know, objects around you.

10:04
Then that's the goal, right?

10:08
That makes it feel just so safe and special and sacred to be there.

10:14
So, I hope you enjoy this.

10:18
If you have any questions, always feel free to email me.

10:21
And remember that however you're creating your sanctuary right now.

10:25
It's enough.

10:26
I'll see you next time.