"Spending Out"

I recently finished reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  It basically is a personal story of one woman's pursuit of happiness.  I enjoy reading these types of books (Hello, Eat. Pray. Love!).  Unfortunately, Gretchen was unable to just drop her life and travel around the world as Ms. Elizabeth Gilbert did so I was curious to see where her personal journey would lead her.  It really is a simple book.  There was no earth-shattering revelations here other than the simple things that she did which made her happy.  She focuses on the typical day to day:  family, work, relationships.

Some of the favorite things I took away from this book were her emphasis on de-cluttering and what she called "spending out."  It's the end of year and a good time to de-clutter, go through the closet, and pull out those things you don't need or want anymore.  I love the feeling of purging the extra useless items from my space.  I haven't gotten all feng-shui just yet, but I just feel so much better knowing that I don't have random things all around.  This physical clutter (even if it's not really much) begins to turn into mental clutter.  I can't seem to focus until things are in order.  Again, this was not earth-shattering advice, and I'm not saying that what I'm about to bring up next is either....

But she brought up the idea of using what you have. "Spending out" she calls it.  Sounds pretty basic, huh?  It probably is to most people, but I have always been someone who likes to save stuff - save it for a special occasion, save it so as not to waste it, etc.  But why?  Why not use it now?  Silly examples:  candles and stationary.  For years, I have collected notecards, pads, stationary of all sorts, but never wanted to use it all up.  Now I have boxes full of paper just sitting there, never having been used.  And candles, my goodness, candles!  Tealights, votives, jars - all of these are screaming "USE ME, USE ME!"  So I have been doing that recently, and it feels great.  Why does something so silly and simple feel so good?  Because a purpose is being fulfilled is my guess.  

I guess I just realized that being a "saver" can actually be wasteful.  Appreciate what you have - the here, the now.  Appreciate the beauty.  Don't let those things just die in a box.  Everything has a purpose and that purpose should be fulfilled.  Here's to lighting those candles and sending those notes!