The Power of Less

"In simplifying we are trying to move away from excess and towards balance."

- Kim John Payne Simplicity Parenting

Laura, over at Wife, Mother, ATHLETE wrote about a book called Simplicity Parenting (2009, New York, NY: Ballantine Books), by Kim John Payne, M.Ed. and Lisa M. Ross. Her post made me check this book out at the library and then read it over the next few days, whenever I had the chance. As crazy as it sounds, I felt like this book was written for our family. Now don't get me wrong, my wife has done an outstanding job raising our children and I like to think that even though I haven't been fully there for them, I've done a bit to make sure they are sheltered, fed and clothed.

As with so many other middle-class families, we suffer not from want but from abundance. This book is about decluttering your life, becoming invested in the family, and making time for connections often missed because of school, work, sports schedules, television and other screen time. What the authors suggest are simple ways you can pare down the choices in your life, to make things simpler, easier, and more attuned to a life well lived. As it turns out, my wife is on spring break with the kids, so some of my excitement is muted, due to not having her to bounce all this off of. However, I'm also taking this time to start the decluttering process, cleaning the house, and getting my arguments ready  thoughts together. I'm somewhat an all or nothing type of guy, so the delay in seeing her is actually a benefit, so my wife is not bowled over by my new found exhilaration.

In a neat coincidence, I was looking through my wife's library basket and found It's All Too Much (2007, New York, NY: Free Press), by Peter Walsh, who apparently is a professional organizer from TLC's hit series "Clean Sweep." Seems we're on the same wave length.

Transferring this to bloggy land, I've decided to do a little housecleaning. Over the weekend, I'll be combining several of my blogs into one enormous, over-the-top, SUPERBLOG! Kids Try Gear, Trail Running Project, and Endurance Gear Reviews will be no more - it doesn't really make sense to keep them separate, because they're all about me anyway (isn't everything?). My wife will be keeping her site though, because she needs to have an identity outside of being the wife of a superfamous celebrity blogger (that would be me, for those confused). If you haven't checked out Women's Endurance Gear, you are missing out! Trust me, not only is my wife the attractive half of this couple, she's also superior in pretty much every other way. Well, she does struggle to pee standing up, so I've got that.

(4/15/2011 - Laima has just posted her review over at Women's Endurance Gear - head over and read what she thought of this book!)

Do you have stuff on top of your other stuff, which is hidden behind the stuff you've forgotten about? Get rid of it, set it free. If it it comes back it's yours, if not, hunt it down and kill it it never was.