Celebrating 10 Years of Minimalism: How Letting Go Changed Everything

I grew up in a messy house. It was always a mess, and my mom felt bad about it, but she worked full time and there simply weren’t enough hours in the day. Every Saturday morning, we’d all set to work unburying the kitchen counters and clearing piles of laundry from the couch.

Even though the messes kept us from having friends over or finding a clean cereal bowl in the morning, I never held it against my mom. She is one of the hardest-working people I know. She often took on extra jobs to make ends meet, and she was doing the best she could.

Then I found myself managing my own home with four kids ages four and under. Just like my mom, I was in survival mode, spending my days managing piles of laundry, picking up toys, and constantly feeling behind. The house was never clean. The to-do list never ended. And the weight of it all was suffocating. I assumed a messy house would always be my fate.