My Simple Weekend

This past weekend I took a break from grading papers (for the most part) to add a little more simplicity to my life, and to slow down.

Friday night I was exhausted from a grueling- but worthwhile- week of classes, so my husband and I just opted to grab dinner and take a long walk outside.

Saturday, after starting Tammy Strobel’s book You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap)– you may know her as the face of the ‘tiny house’ movement- I got rid of close to 100 items (clothes, books, knick knacks) that had somehow been hiding in my one-bedroom apartment. The more stuff I got rid of, the better I felt. This feeling of relief is something most minimalists say surprises them most about ‘decluttering.’ You assume without your precious possessions that you’ll miss them, but you actually don’t. Truth be told, after hesitating to get rid of some of my own items, I can’t even remember what they were now.

As part of my ‘simple weekend’, I continued decluttering, reading Strobel’s book in my sweatpants, and then ended the weekend right.

Sunday my husband and I vowed to make it out of the house by 10 am so we could spend the full day in a local park. We met up to do yoga outside with 100 or so people who meet every Sunday morning, we bought some organic soaps at the farmer’s market, played frisbee, read on  blankets (where I’ll confess, I checked quite a few student emails and assignments- but I also finished Strobel’s book), and took a walk through the park before heading home around 6 pm.

There’s just something about long walks, paring down your belongings, and spending a beautiful Sunday with hundreds of smiling people to make you enjoy the simplest of life’s pleasures.