Living With the End in Mind: How Minimalism Changed My View of Death
Recently my husband and I were talking to our four-year old son about death. It came about because he wanted to break a branch off a tree to throw into the neighborhood stream. My husband told him to take a stick from the ground because it was already dead. Thus started the inevitable questions about […]
Subscriber Q&A with Willow Nature Wood: “I saw that I was on the path to becoming just as bad of a hoarder as he was.”
Willow Nature Wood is a self-described “rustic poet”, full-time author, and recovering hoarder who has been exploring minimalism since 2018. She is also a Simple by Emmy subscriber who has a fascinating story about her minimalism journey I just had to share with you all! If you would like to be featured in an upcoming […]
5 Reasons Why I Love Buy Nothing Groups (and You Will, Too!)
One of the hardest parts about decluttering is the guilt associated with letting go of excess belongings. We are psychologically predisposed to hold onto our stuff because of what we paid for it, because we own it, or even merely because we are exposed to it day-to-day. We also feel guilty about parting with items […]
My Ten Favorite Quotes from The Minimalists’ Documentary Less Is Now
After watching The Minimalists’ documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things on Netflix in 2016, I was excited to watch their most recent film Less Is Now which premiered January 1, 2021. Although there is some overlap in the topics covered in both films, including consumerism, the role of advertising and the media in […]
A Sensory Approach to Decluttering Sentimental Items
I don’t own a lot of sentimental items, but the largest by far is the upright piano in our family room. My dad gave it to my mom when I was a baby, and when my mom played I was instantly calm. It was the piano she taught me to play on many years ago. […]
Remembering Gratitude in 2020
Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, and I’m reminded about a blog post I wrote this time last year about cultivating a present moment gratitude practice. It’s hard to believe that just months after I wrote the post, we would enter the era of COVID, a time when a consistent gratitude practice is more […]
How I Learned to Thrive While Pregnant During the Pandemic
This is a guest post from Ali Cornish of Everthrive. Pregnancy is a time of great joy, anticipation, and excitement as families await their newest members. This 40-week period comes with both positive feelings and negative feelings – it’s natural to feel overwhelmed and scared as a baby’s due date approaches. A new mother may […]
Three Writing Prompts for a More Intentional Life
Every morning, my two boys grab their bags of cars and trucks, dump them out on the floor, and happily line them up into traffic patterns. At the end of the day when it’s finally clean up time, my husband and I patiently hold the bags open while they put them back into the bag […]
Five Steps to Get Your Family On Board With Simplifying
So you’ve decided to start the journey to live with less. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step toward a life with more time, energy, and space to pursue the things most important to you. There’s just one little problem…your family hasn’t come to the same decision. When I ask my readers the biggest challenge they […]
Grounding and Letting Go During Turbulent Times
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. We are about to enter some turbulence due to the storm. Please return your seats immediately and keep your seat belts fastened. Thank you.” Anytime I’ve been on a flight that hit turbulence, I immediately respond by steeling myself for the inevitable jostling […]