The simple + intentional podcast is here to support you, whether it’s to clear clutter, ditch the overwhelm + create ease + simplicity , figure out how to be more intentional in your life or inspire you to into action.
Each week I will share things like practical + actionable tips you can start using immediately to start living more intentionally and create YOUR life as well interviews with people that will inspire and educate you
168// Recognizing the Role of Privilege in Decluttering
•Sarah Horgan•Episode 168
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Our decluttering journeys are all unique and we all have different starting points. And this week, I want to acknowledge the role privilege can play in making things easier to let go of. But also, how much more vital decluttering becomes when you have less resources so you can create that ease for yourself.
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Do you feel overwhelmed by clutter when you walk through the door? Are you tired all the time and stuck just getting by? With each day being a carbon copy of the next and no time or space for yourself? Hi, I'm Sarah, and I was you, so I understand. You're a busy mom, whether at home or working full-time, feeling like you're in survival mode. There isn't time for more because you're just putting out fires, overwhelmed by all the stuff, and aching for something more. That's what the Simple Intentional Podcast is here for. To support you. Whether it's to clear clutter, ditch the overwhelm, and create ease and simplicity, figure out how to be more intentional in your life, or inspire you into action. Each week I'll share things like practical and actionable tips you can start using immediately to start living more intentionally and create your life, as well as interviews with people that will inspire and educate you. I'm a full-time working mom, wife, and lover of all things simple. After a stage four cancer diagnosis in 2014, I started on a path to change how I was living. And I'm sharing with you everything that has helped me move from a stressed-out, people-pleasing perfectionist to calm, in control, and feeling like the best version of myself. So grab your earbuds, a cup of tea, and join me to start making powerful shifts in your life today. This is about so much more than stuff. Hello and welcome back to the Simple and Intentional Podcast. Today I want to talk about something that's a little bit touchy, but I think it's important to address, and that is decluttering from a place of privilege. Because I recognize a lot of solutions that I offer to people and a lot of strategies do come from a place of privilege. Letting go of an item that's $20 or less is acknowledging that if you needed to replace it, you could replace it. And that that allows some ease in decision making, that if you didn't have that $20, that decision becomes a lot harder. And what I mean by privilege is access. And that's access to time, it's access to space, it's access to money, and it's access to support. Because not everyone has the same starting point when it comes to decluttering. You know, having a lot of space to put things away, closets to hide things makes the decluttering process easier than someone who doesn't have that. And they have to come up with small space solutions, and their space may look more cluttered even if they pare down than your home might look like because they don't have the ability to tuck it away. It's also the time. And some of us have more time than others to focus on this. So it does become probably more imperative for somebody who is coming from a place of less privilege to tackle the clutter and deal with their space to give themselves that relief. However, it's a bigger uphill battle than it is for some of us as well. And the reason that I'm sharing this episode is because I want those of you who are feeling like you're starting behind the start line to know that it's okay. There is no race here, that you're gonna get where you need to go eventually, but that yeah, maybe the deck is stacked higher against you than other people. And so this may be a more challenging process for you than it is for others. And I'm sorry for that because it isn't fair all the time how things work out in life and how we come to problems and how solutions can come easier to some people than others. But I don't want that to disempower you, I don't want it to be something that holds you back from creating the change that you want to create in your life because you are really capable of doing it. Yes, it may be harder, yes, the decision making may be heavier, but making that change is going to lead to so much goodness. You know, every time we make a shift in our life in a positive way, it does ripple outwards. And decluttering can give you that margin that you're probably so desperate for. And sometimes this is about a season of life. This isn't a long-lasting thing, but that we have to sit with the fact that we can't necessarily make all the changes we want to make at once and that we have to have patience. But I think it's really worth acknowledging that those simple tasks can be really layered for different people in different ways. So if there's a financial layer, it feels hard to let go of things, and that scarcity is really real, then acknowledge that. And maybe you won't get rid of the same things that other people will because you are in a particular season of life or you are operating from a place where that feels much, much harder. That's okay. We all truly are on our own path and we operate in the way that we need to operate that works for our individual lives. So that comparison of what you see online, of what other people's homes look like, or what other people are able to accomplish can feel really discouraging. So you're gonna have to remind yourself over and over and over again that everybody is operating from a different starting point, and everybody has access to different things, and some people have way more support in a lot of different ways than others. And that is, of course, a hard thing to deal with. However, I want you to look at your starting point from your lens so that you can look at what's feasible for you and figure out how you can create the space and the clarity for you, and that's gonna benefit your particular circumstance. And a great place to start is just by slowing down what comes in the door, really questioning each item and asking yourself if it really is necessary to keep, necessary to bring into your home, and necessary to add on to your load, or if it's not gonna be useful to let it go before it even enters your home so that you can spare yourself the work later. And if you are operating from a place of scarcity, which I think a lot of us are, but some of us are gonna experience that a lot more than others, like I said, because of finances, because of time that are really real challenges, you're gonna have to question yourself even further. Because it's gonna feel easy to justify bringing things in and justify keeping things because of that. And you're really gonna have to dig deep and ask yourself is this a real worry and is this justified, or is this just the fear that I'm used to living with and that I need to sort of dig a little deeper and address this a little bit more before I hold on to this item? For example, something like hand me downs, which is such a great thing to receive, there could be tons of multiples in there. And maybe you don't have the space to house all of those multiples. So you can really ask yourself, what is the right amount of clothing that my kid needs versus what I feel really tempted to hold on to because I'm worried about not having enough. These aren't easy questions to ask ourselves and they aren't easy things to address because they are rooted in reality. But you're likely listening to this podcast for a reason, and that reason probably has to do with clutter and it's probably something that you want to address. So think about these things. Think about your consumption, think about the things you're bringing into your home and ask yourself really real questions if this is actually going to benefit you or it's gonna hinder you. Is this supporting you or is this actually just making things harder for you? So again, part of why I share this episode is because I want you to know that if you were struggling with decluttering and you are struggling with letting go of things, that that really could be from a real place of not having enough. And remember that decluttering isn't just about having less, it's about being intentional with what you do have and what you do bring home. And when we can acknowledge this element of privilege, it's gonna allow you to increase your self-awareness, but also your self-compassion and ask yourself some questions. Ask yourself what makes decluttering accessible or inaccessible for me right now? Where do I have support or resources that I can lean on? And how can I use what I have more intentionally? We're all creating change within the context of our own lives, and that's gonna look different for everybody. I think most of all, what we have to remember is not to compare ourselves to other people. It's super hard in this day and age of social media and seeing all these beautiful spaces that are clear and clean, but remember that you can create your own version of that. What works for you, what works for your life, that has your own intentionality in it, that supports the life that you are working to build, and that you don't need to feel bad because your version looks different than other people. And that's a blanket statement, regardless of privilege. I think we have to get out of our um comparison trap with others because it really does just downgrade our own feelings and our own experience. But, you know, really lean on that gratitude, really lean on that contentment because there's a lot to be found there, and we really do have more available to us in our lives than we recognize a lot of the time. So just to lean into that. I hope you found this episode helpful. And if you are somebody who listens regularly to the podcast and you like it, I would love if you could leave a review. It makes a big difference. Thanks so much for listening.
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