My Parents have lived in the same house together all their married lives. They are in their 80’s and have just celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. It isn’t a very large house but they raised 3 children there, and it always had enough enough space, we had enough food, more than enough support and happiness. And now that we have all grown up and have children and houses of our own, my parents have recently started decluttering!

I am so in awe of this. And of them. They seem to be letting go of stuff they have gathered and kept during a lifetime together. And instead of the process weighing them down, they are enjoying the lightness of it all. They are not tired. They are not emotional. They are not stuck. They are moving through it all, celebrating the new space. Decisions are coming easily and the process is flowing. They are talking about what is next.

Knowing my Minimalist leanings, they have been so good at not passing everything on to us. We have however taken 3 useful and much-loved things.

From their decluttering we are now the new owners of a few old things: a potjie pot (a big cauldron which cooks stews on the fire) which we have already used a few times, a set of garden lights, and a swing ball set, which we have been using non-stop.

What a gift it is to free oneself of the attachment of physical possessions.